Sound Walls Overshadowed on Priority List

Dear Traffic Talk:

Twelve years ago I headed up a campaign to get Caltrans to build a sound wall between Whitsett Avenue and Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

After an exhausting runaround with Caltrans, the city and state, I gave up.

It became obvious to me that they don’t care about the problems of a few hundred residents.

What is fascinating is that they don’t care about the hundreds of schoolchildren affected by the increasing pollution or the blatant threat of death.

A few years ago, on that same stretch of freeway, an oil tanker crashed in a fatal accident. Metal ripping, people screaming, we watched from our homes as the tanker tore through the foliage, spewing lethal oil.

Just a few yards farther and that oil tanker would have crashed onto Campbell Hall School’s athletic field: Only bushes stand between the field and 18-wheelers traveling at 65 mph.

According to Campbell Hall’s representatives, they have also tried for 15 years to get the sound wall. Not only have they failed to get the wall, but two more freeway lanes have been added.

It’s easy to believe that the bureaucrats ignore the needs of the residents. But how can they allow kids to play beneath the speeding trucks and cars, while sucking in the fumes of the third busiest freeway in the world?

Sean Derek

Studio City

Dear Sean:

That area has been identified as a candidate in a statewide sound wall project list--but funding is not yet available, according to Caltrans.

Funding for many walls around the state has been limited by several factors--including the higher priority given to seismic retrofitting of bridges and failure of several bond measures--according to Pat Reid, a spokeswoman for the agency.

She said that until revenue conditions improve, the prospects for a wall in your area are uncertain.

She added that engineers performed a preliminary field review specifically targeting Campbell Hall. They found the noise levels there are below those required by state and federal regulations to justify a sound wall.

However, Caltrans plans to perform a comprehensive noise study in this area in the near future, Reid said.

Dear Traffic Talk:

What should a driver do when he or she encounters a jammed parking meter?

Is it legal to park at such a meter without depositing money?

If so, should the driver leave a note for the parking enforcement officer?

Lisa Supanich

North Hollywood

Dear Lisa:

It is not illegal to park at a jammed meter, but drivers run the risk of receiving a citation that can be cleared up through an appeals process.

When encountering a broken meter, the ideal procedure to follow is to call the Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s meter repair office at (213) 485-2273, said T.K. Prime, a senior transportation engineer.

Otherwise, drivers may park at a jammed meter, but if a parking officer fails to notice the meter is broken or if the note left has blown away, a citation will probably be issued.

In that situation, the driver would have the option of appealing the citation, which would be retracted if the department determined that the meter was in fact broken, Prime said.

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