No Hiding the Need for a 2nd Stop

Dear Traffic Talk:

Chandler Boulevard has two lanes heading east and two lanes heading west with a wide median separating them.

If I am heading west on Chandler and I turn left, may I continue through the intersection? Or do I have to sit in the median area and wait for the light on the southbound street to turn green?

--Steven Coon

North Hollywood

Dear Steven:

You have to sit and wait for the light on the median to turn green, because those are separate intersections, said Traffic Complaint Officer Jim Panek of the Los Angeles Police Department.

What to do at the median is confusing, Panek said, and some motorists have crashed into oncoming vehicles when they fail to notice and stop for a red light at the second intersection.

“People go through the red light all the time,” Panek said. “Usually I just warn people. I would see some go through every day. Then they got a ticket.”

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Dear Traffic Talk:

We on Addison Street at Coldwater Canyon are struggling with 37 accidents in five years. Addison needs to be widened and turn-lanes need to be constructed.

At least 11 serious injuries and one death have occurred at the intersection in the last five years. How do we get help?

--Hannah Theile

and Theodore EckbergSherman Oaks

Dear Hannah and Theodore:

The best hope for improving Addison Street lies with future development there, said Daniel Hinerfeld, a spokesman for City Councilman Mike Feuer. The city hopes a private developer will provide widening and new turn-lanes when building a project on a corner lot there, he said.

“There is no city money to do it right now,” Hinerfeld said.

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Dear Traffic Talk:

Traveling south on Sepulveda Boulevard after passing Burbank and Magnolia boulevards, there are no signs indicating how to get on the Ventura freeway.

Turning east on Morrison Street, which appears to be an onramp approach, is frustrating, because the street is a cul-de-sac. Why are there no signs?

--Mark S. Gelfat

Studio City

Dear Mark:

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation will consider installing a sign to prevent confusion, said Irwin Chodash, a city transportation engineer.

Southbound drivers may become confused by a sign appearing shortly before Morrison Street that indicates that the left lane leads to the eastbound onramp to the Ventura Freeway, Chodash said.

A new sign would clearly mark the freeway onramp and possibly be posted on a freeway bridge south of Morrison Street facing southbound traffic, Chodash said. The city would need Caltrans approval to install the sign, he said.

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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.