When It Rains, It Pours a Plethora of Giant Potholes

It’s no surprise that with more than 25 inches of rain dumped on Ventura County during this, the year of El Nino, some of the area’s roads have fared about as well as some of its hillsides.

To traverse some sections of Tierra Rejada Road in Simi Valley now almost requires a lunar rover.

Ventura’s Thompson Boulevard looks more like the Nevada Test Site than a north-south connector, and a trip along Main Street in Santa Paula is now about as pleasant as a journey down the Oregon Trail in a creaky covered wagon.

El Nino has delivered Ventura County residents a plague of potholes of almost biblical proportions.

So we asked the experts two simple questions:

Why is it that when the weather turns ugly the roads fall apart? And when will we be delivered from this mess?

On the first question: Once cracks appear in the pavement, water seeps in and further degrades the road, loosening the bond between rock and tar. When cars travel over these damaged sections, the road is eaten away, leaving pits that not even the finest shock absorber can protect against.

As for the second question, the answer is: pretty soon.

Ventura maintenance crews are about $150,000 into a $1.3-million project to repair the damage done to Thompson Boulevard and other surface streets.

By June, public works manager Rick Watkins said, the street from the Five Points section to its western terminus near the fairgrounds will be repaired. A new stoplight will be installed at the Oak Street intersection and a new sewer line will run parallel to the road.

Even before this year’s rains, Tierra Rejada Road was scheduled to be repaved as part of Simi Valley’s aggressive street maintenance program. That, too, should be completed by midsummer.

Tony Emmert of Santa Paula’s public works department, who affectionately calls potholes “inverted speed humps,” estimates that Main Street will be repaved by May as part of its $3.5-million downtown revitalization project, barring any unforeseen super storms that could postpone the work.

Until then, it looks like everyone will have to keep bracing themselves for those all-too-frequent run-ins with El Nino’s pesky side effect.

This winter has also brought another concern for drivers: a new law that has everybody wondering when it’s OK to pass a school bus.

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Dear Street Smart:

While picking up my grandson at Hollywood Beach Elementary School the other day, it became apparent that most people, including myself, don’t fully understand when or for how long to stop when the red lights flash on a school bus.

Do they mean to stop and then proceed or remain stopped until the lights are turned off?

If it means the latter, then Sunset Avenue is closed to through traffic for 10 to 15 minutes several times a day.

I’d appreciate some clarification on this matter.

Roy Rowland

Oxnard

Dear Reader:

Treat those flashing red lights on a school bus as you would a red stoplight: Stop until they are turned off.

They do not mean “proceed with caution” or “go slowly.” They mean stop and, as Officer Ken Klopman of the Oxnard Police Department is quick to say, they mean it.

The law regarding those flashing red lights changed in January and required that school bus drivers turn them on whenever students are entering or leaving a bus.

Exceptions to this rule would be when the bus stops on a divided highway or thoroughfare, like Saviers Road.

Previously the lights were turned on when a child had to cross a street, but after a slew of tragic accidents throughout the state, the law was amended.

Yet, according to Klopman, many drivers have yet to heed the lights.

“We get so many complaints from drivers and parents about people not stopping that it’s becoming a real problem for us,” he said.

If the police stop one of these scofflaws, the penalties are fairly stiff.

One point is deducted from their driving record, which can translate into higher insurance fees, and a $405 fine is imposed, which few judges reduce because the traffic violation is one that endangers the lives of children.

As far as Sunset Road is concerned, if you don’t want to wait for the youngsters to get on or off the bus, find an alternate route.

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Dear Street Smart:

Every day I see at least five to 10 vehicles with expired registrations on the streets and highways. I am talking about registrations that are more than 60 to 90 days past due, not just a few days past the end of the month of expiration.

Since people can now call *SMOG to report smoking and polluting vehicles, why can’t something be done to report these scofflaws who are driving around with expired tags? Maybe we could call *TAGS.

This is a subject that is not open to personal interpretation, as changing lanes, tailgating or speeding are, but is easily verifiable by computer and would not tie up much of an officer’s time.

A citation could then be issued to the offending vehicle owner, and if they’ve paid, only a small fine would be levied for the tag not being in place.

This is a problem that should have an easy, low-cost solution by letting legal drivers be the eyes and ears to report these people. It would be a win-win situation.

Joey Ferrari

Simi Valley

Dear Reader:

Few things in this world are more irritating to people who have paid their taxes, gotten their emissions tested and gone through the DMV’s bureaucratic rigmarole than seeing someone tootling around town with a grossly illegal vehicle.

But there is something everyone can do to crack down on this.

Drivers who spot these scofflaws can jot down their license plate numbers and where they saw them and turn that information over to the appropriate authorities--that is, those agencies charged with patrolling whatever road on which the offending driver was spotted, according to Suzanne Garcia, an administrative manager at the DMV.

The authorities will then run the license through the computer to check its exact status and take the necessary measures to make sure the driver complies.

Sometimes, drivers with expired tags have paid all the necessary re-registration fees, but haven’t passed a smog test. A citation levying a small fee will be issued.

Other times, all the necessary paperwork has been done, but the vehicle owner just hasn’t put the tags on. Again, authorities will issue a citation that carries with it a small fine.

If the offending driver is just thumbing his nose at the authorities and hasn’t done anything to make the vehicle legal, it may be towed and the driver brought to court to ensure that the problem is taken care of or that the owner is barred from driving.

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Peeved? Baffled? Miffed? Or merely just perplexed? Street Smart answers your most probing questions on the joys and horrors of driving around Ventura County. Write to: Street Smart, c/o Coll Metcalfe, Los Angeles Times, 1445 Los Angeles Ave., Suite 208, Simi Valley 93065, or call the Sound Off line at 653-7546. Include a simple sketch if needed to help explain. In every case include your full name, address, and day and evening phone numbers. Street Smart cannot answer anonymous queries and may edit your letter or phone message due to space constraints.