Botts Dots Give Faded Highway Stripes a Lift

Dear Traffic Talk:

I’m writing to you about the white painted markings or striping on the freeway. Reflectors or Botts dots in the pavement are only good at night, and then only if they are clean.

You can’t see the reflectors when it’s raining, and during the day they are hard to see.

The freeways between Los Angeles and San Diego still have painted white stripes that make for easy driving.

I have also noticed that carpool lanes are very well marked this way.

Why can’t the rest of the lanes be marked with painted white stripes as well?

A.M. Pereira

North Hollywood

Dear A.M.:

Pat Reid, a spokeswoman for Caltrans, said reapplying stripes to the roadways is of lower priority than other road repairs and maintenance.

Reid said Caltrans would rather repair damage to roads caused by accidents, build new roads and repair old roads before applying new striping.

Reid also said there are insufficient funds allocated to the department to repaint all of the roadways.

To help extend the life of the street striping, Caltrans added raised markers called Botts dots, named after the inventor Elbert D. Botts.

Reid said the dots also serve as a safety feature by alerting drivers when they move from one lane to another. Caltrans is studying the cost and effectiveness of Botts dots and their use in varying situations.

Dear Traffic Talk:

Every weekday morning between 5:30 and 6 a.m., I enter the eastbound Ventura Freeway at the Shoup Avenue onramp, which is controlled by a signal for eastbound Ventura Boulevard traffic.

The signal is located on a small island in the middle of Ventura Boulevard.

Invariably, some motorist will drive around the queue of vehicles waiting for the green arrow, go around the traffic signal island and enter the onramp from the westbound side of Ventura Boulevard.

Is that a legal turn?

If it is, those of us waiting at that fairly long signal are wasting a lot of time.

Sherwin J. Silver

Burbank

Dear Sherwin:

According to Officer Bill Preciado of the California Highway Patrol, that turn is illegal if the vehicle goes between two controlled intersections.

U-turns should never be made by crossing a curb, or a strip of land, nor should they be made near business structures, which include apartment dwellings, churches and public buildings.

A driver cannot make a U-turn between two traffic lights because there is no traffic signal to protect a vehicle from oncoming traffic, Preciado said.

A person may make a U-turn at a light if approaching vehicles are at least 200 feet away.

U-turns that cross double white lines or double yellow lines can be made if done safely, and all U-turns should begin from the far left lane.

Officer Preciado said that U-turns are illegal in front of a fire station or if the vehicle crosses two sets of double lines.

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