Lights Reset to Change at Same Time

Dear Traffic Talk:

Two traffic signals on Chatsworth Drive, one at Laurel Canyon Boulevard and another at the Golden State Freeway in Mission Hills, are not in sync if you are traveling on Chatsworth.

Is there a way they could both be red or green at the same time?

James Laage

Granada Hills

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Dear James:

The lights at the two intersections have now been adjusted to turn green at the same time, said Brian Gallagher, a transportation engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. The timing of the lights was changed last week, he said.

“For these two intersections, because they are only 200 feet apart, it works really well for them to be simultaneous,” Gallagher said.

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Dear Traffic Talk:

Commuters traveling from the Valley into West Hollywood have been forced onto Crescent Heights Boulevard since the city recently amended a sign that prevents southbound traffic on Laurel Canyon Boulevard from using Woodstock Road on weekday mornings. (The prohibition from 7 to 9 a.m. on Woodstock, which runs parallel to Laurel Canyon, was extended to 10 a.m.)

As a result, brutal backups on Crescent Heights are created during the morning rush-hour.

What alternatives do motorists have? To the east, the Hollywood Freeway is a nightmare. To the west, Coldwater Canyon Drive and Beverly Glen Boulevard are stop-and-go; southbound traffic on the Santa Monica Freeway is also a nightmare.

Shouldn’t the city be creating more alternatives, rather than forcing motorists onto already crowded main arteries? How can motorists convince the city to rescind its decision?

Michael Lynn

Studio City

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Dear Michael:

In the the early 1990s, a right turn onto Woodstock became illegal during morning rush-hour, because residents complained that too many speeding motorists were cutting through their narrow street, said district engineer Armen Hovanessian of the Department of Transportation’s Hollywood-Wilshire District office. A traffic survey determined that too many vehicles were using Woodstock during those hours, he said.

Area residents asked the DOT to extend the right-turn prohibition because there were still too many cars, Hovanessian said.

Motorists may fax the DOT at (213) 485-8473 or write to its Hollywood-Wilshire District office, 6430 Sunset Blvd., Suite 521, Los Angeles 90028.

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Traffic Talk appears Fridays in The Times Valley Edition. Readers may submit comments and questions about traffic in the Valley to Traffic Talk, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted. Fax letters to (818) 772-3385. E-mail questions to valley.news@latimes.com.