Timing of Signals Being Scrutinized

Dear Traffic Talk:

There was a time when one could go 35 mph on virtually any Valley street with that posted speed limit and hit all green lights. Over the years, I have seen this degenerate so that now signals in sync with the speed limit are a rarity.

I could name streets like Roscoe Boulevard and Shoup and Winnetka avenues as examples, but all the streets in the Valley are out of sync.

At the same time, traffic officers are out in force. Has the city found a clever way to increase revenue?

One would think new technology would have improved synchronizing. Whatever has happened, it makes the streets dangerous, as many speed to make the lights. Can you help me get them to correct this?

Ron Vartian

Canoga Park

Dear Ron:

Considering the Valley’s high number of traffic signals and their proximity to one another, they are still generally very well coordinated, said Bill J. Shao, a transportation engineer at the city Department of Transportation.

The Valley has 1,294 traffic signals synchronized to encourage motorists to drive at or below the posted speed limit, Shao said. A study is underway to determine if more can be done to make them better synchronized, he said.

According to Shao, in the 1950s and ‘60s, the Valley had fewer than half the signals it has today. Back then, traffic lights lacked sensors and operated under a fixed time mode. Traffic was much lighter than it is today, and there were fewer speeders. Signals were about half a mile apart from one another then, whereas today many are separated by less than 250 feet, he said.

Development spawned new traffic and accident patterns that required a number of new signals, with such features as left- and right-turn arrows, bus priority, fire engine priority and midblock pedestrian crossings, Shao said.

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Dear Traffic Talk:

The city did such a nice job resurfacing Sepulveda Boulevard from Wilshire Boulevard to about Getty Center Drive. Are there any plans to continue north on Sepulveda to Mulholland Drive or to Ventura Boulevard?

Christopher Burmaster

Sherman Oaks

Dear Christopher:

The city plans to pave Sepulveda Boulevard from Skirball Center Drive to the San Diego Freeway Sepulveda exit starting sometime in July, said Robert Reed, a spokesman at the city Department of Public Works. The project should be completed before June 2001, 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.