Far Left as Passing Lane Is an Idea From the Past

Dear Street Smart:

Isn’t it true that freeway drivers should keep out of the “fast lane” unless they are passing another car? Like the Autobahn in Europe? If the freeway is clogged with cars, it makes sense to use all the available lanes, but people stay in the “fast” lane at 55 mph, 60 mph, etc.

It is so exasperating to have to pass on the right because the person in the fast lane will not move over.

The San Diego Freeway from Newport Beach to Cypress is four lanes wide (not including the carpool lane). Why don’t people move to the right? Why doesn’t the CHP encourage slower drivers to stay out of the passing lane?

Carolyn Lundberg

Newport Beach

The far left lane as a passing-only lane is a myth, says Rob Lund, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. “That’s just something that people have held on to,” he said. “It goes back to when the roadways were, at best, two lanes in each direction and it was kind of an unwritten rule that the left lane was for passing.”

Today, Lund said, the only vehicles not allowed in the far-left lane except to pass are such things as cars pulling trailers, motor homes towing cars and tractor/trailers. All other drivers, he said, are entitled to stay in the fast lane as long as they want, provided they maintain the maximum posted speed.

You can be cited for driving in the left-hand lane at less than the speed limit. Lund suggests staying in the right lane if you are moving slowly. If you are in the fast lane and a faster car approaches, move over and let it go by, he said. If you are in the fast lane approaching a car that’s going slower than the speed limit, flash your lights to signal it to move or go around it to the right, Lund said.

Dear Street Smart:

I occasionally use the San Joaquin Hills (73) toll road to commute from my home in Capistrano Beach to Newport Beach. It does save time during rush hour. However, since there is no transition from the northbound 73 to the southbound Costa Mesa (55) Freeway, it can be inconvenient. I either have to take the northbound 55 to Baker Street exit, then get back on the southbound 55, or I stay on the 73 to Bear, exit, and reenter the southbound 73 to transition to the southbound 55. Are there any plans for a northbound 73-southbound 55 transition?

Vicki C. Cadwell

Capistrano Beach

You’re in luck. Peter Naghavi, transportation manager for Costa Mesa, said the city has long had plans for such a transition, but they languished for the last four years due to lack of funding. Recently that began to change, and Connector B is being designed. Construction is expected to begin within three years and should be completed a year after that, Naghavi said.

Slightly more than half the funding for the $5-million project will come from Measure M grants, with the rest expected to come from the cities of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

Dear Streetsmart:

The ramp onto the southbound Santa Ana Freeway from Main Street is on a descending grade above the freeway and doesn’t have a guard rail, which seems hazardous. Should a vehicle lose control, there is nothing that would prevent it from falling onto the highway. Can Caltrans do anything about this?

Jean Snowden

Tustin

Caltrans has no plans to do anything because it considers the ramp safe, said Rose Orem, a Caltrans spokeswoman. The ramp went through safety reviews for design and while under construction, she said. The verdict: It meets Caltrans safety standards because the height and slope are not very severe and because the paved road makes it unlikely cars will slide off.

Orem said the agency has not added guard rails because it feels they would make an accident worse. “If a car hit the guard rail,” Orem said, “it would either flip over or bounce off and hit other traffic.”

In the year since it opened, she said, the ramp has not been the site of an unusual number of accidents.

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to David Haldane, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County Edition, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, send faxes to (714) 966-7711 or e-mail him at David.Haldane@latimes.com. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.