No Entry on the Right Side of the Law
Dear Traffic Talk:
I find it impossible in Granada Hills to drive south on Balboa, just south of Rinaldi and enter the Ronald Reagan Freeway eastbound legally when only one person is in the car. Can you figure out a solution?
The only choices I can find are:
1. Get in the right-turn-only lane that turns onto the freeway westbound but go straight (which is illegal) so you will be in the correct lane to enter the freeway eastbound.
2. Get in the lane next to the right-turn-only lane and enter the freeway’s diamond lane eastbound as if two people were in the car (which is illegal).
3. In the intersection following the right-turn-only lane in front of the onramp to the freeway westbound, change lanes from the second lane from the curb (which is illegal) into the right lane. After passing the intersection of the westbound ramp over the freeway, cross the solid line (which is illegal) into the right lane on Balboa so you will enter the ramp in the proper lane.
As I see it, there are several illegal ways to enter the freeway eastbound on Balboa south of Rinaldi, but there are no legal ways available.
Jimmy Swan, North Hills
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Dear Jimmy:
Caltrans will work with the Los Angeles City Department of Transportation and request that the department improve the traffic movement approaching the onramp, including possibly modifying the existing signs and/or pavement markings, Pat Reid, a spokeswoman for Caltrans, said. The improvements could be made within the next three months, she said.
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Dear Traffic Talk:
In the Santa Clarita area, Caltrans is expanding the freeway, but before they open up new lanes they tear up old lanes, thereby causing traffic congestion. Fortunately, they do most of this at night, but it is still odd that they don’t open new lanes before tearing up the old ones. Why can’t they do this in a way more convenient to the people who need to get to work on time?
Linda O’Brien, Agua Dulce
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Dear Linda:
According to Reid, the agency is working on the first phase of a massive, five-stage widening project on the Antelope Valley Freeway that will add a carpool lane in the median in each direction. Reid said the project should be finished by June. A 10-mile stretch of the freeway from Sand Canyon Road in Canyon Country to just north of Escondido Canyon Road near Agua Dulce will be completed by September 1999. Reid said Caltrans cannot open any portion of the new lanes until both are completed.
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Dear Traffic Talk:
I live north of Victory Boulevard on Oakdale Avenue. All the streets surrounding my street have street lights, but Oakdale does not. Why?
Cindy Randall, Chatsworth
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Dear Cindy:
Starting in the 1950s the city of Los Angeles required street improvements such as street lighting, sidewalks, storm drains, curbs and gutters whenever a property was subdivided and developed, according to Mike Cates, an engineering manager for the city’s bureau of street lighting.
Cates said streets without lights were developed before the city imposed these requirements. For more information on street lighting costs and procedures, contact the Bureau of Street Lighting at (213) 847-6384.