Drainage Ditch the Culprit in Traffic-Signal Headache

Dear Street Smart:

The traffic light at the entrance to the Ralphs/Longs shopping center on Channel Islands Boulevard, between Victoria Avenue and Patterson Road in Port Hueneme, is wonderful.

Eastbound cars can turn left across the drainage channel and proceed immediately into the shopping center’s parking lot.

On the other hand, the traffic light at Channel Islands and Patterson is a real bother.

Folks wishing to turn left to go north on Patterson must cross over the drainage channel, then wait for yet another light to turn green before they can continue.

Most left-turn signals allow you to complete the turn. Why is this one different?

Mary Barnes, Oxnard

Dear Reader:

The key culprit here is that drainage channel. It runs down the middle of Channel Islands, separating the east and westbound lanes. The intersections, where cars cross the channel, pose a special traffic challenge, requiring signals on both sides.

At the shopping center entrance, the city was able to arrange a smooth left turn across the two sets of lights because this crossing carries comparatively few cars.

And it is a three-way intersection because cars cannot continue moving south from the shopping center--they’d run smack into the chain-link fence that surrounds the Navy base across the street.

Which brings us to the corner of Channel Islands and Patterson. This is a busier four-way intersection that leads to the Navy base entrance.

Laura Phillips, an engineer with the city of Port Hueneme, says that making northbound cars stop again at the second set of lights was the most efficient arrangement for this type of intersection.

But here’s a comforting note. Cars making a left-turn north from Channel Islands onto Patterson will trip a sensor in the pavement, and the second light should turn green within five to 10 seconds.

“They won’t have to wait very long,” Phillips says.

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Dear Street Smart:

A little over two years ago, there were new stop signs installed in the residential area of Milton Avenue where, for 35-plus years, there had been no need for stop signs.

When contacted, city officials said they installed the signs because of citizen requests and because they have a program to put more stop signs at uncontrolled intersections, to reduce liability from lawsuits.

The majority of residents on Milton Avenue signed a written request that the new stop signs be replaced with yield signs.

As noted in previous Street Smart columns, other traffic experts say stop signs do not work on low-volume residential streets.

There are so many stop signs now that people are showing less respect for other traffic regulations.

It may be easier and there may be less liability using stop signs in place of yield signs. But the increased safety risks show that Milton Avenue needs yield signs in place of the new stop signs.

Alan Winterbourne, Ventura

Dear Reader:

You’re correct. Local traffic experts sometimes disagree about when stop signs are needed in residential neighborhoods.

You live in Ventura, where the people who make the rules are strong proponents of stop signs. And they aren’t likely to change their minds.

But you probably know that.

Nazir Lalani, Ventura’s transportation engineer, says city staff have spent roughly 2,000 hours and compiled an inch-thick folder of information, researching and responding to your concerns about stop signs.

A few years ago, the city began installing stop signs at many residential intersections that had no traffic controls. Residents on your street, Milton Avenue, requested the signs, city officials say.

Lalani says any intersection where a driver cannot clearly see oncoming traffic should have a stop sign. Other experts say a street must carry a high number of vehicles before a stop sign is warranted, but Lalani says visibility problems--such as parked cars and hedges--are enough to justify stop signs.

He adds, “Nobody pays attention to a yield sign. It’s got to be a stop sign to make people slow down.”

The city has posted so many stop signs partly because of concerns about lawsuits. Injured motorists commonly accuse a local government of contributing to an accident by failing to properly control traffic.

But Lalani also insists that the new stop signs are one reason why the annual number of accidents in Ventura has dropped from 2,700 to just over 1,800 since 1987.

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Dear Street Smart:

A few weeks ago, I was traveling east on the Simi Valley Freeway in Simi Valley. Along the side of the road were temporary signs announcing: “Drop-Off Between Lanes.”

I’ve been unable to figure out what this means and what I was supposed to do.

The Auto Club was no help. Can you translate?

Bernice C. Nossoff, Camarillo

Dear Reader:

The “Drop-Off” warning is one of the least common and most ominous signs you’re likely to encounter on the freeway. It sounds like one false turn and your car will plummet off a cliff.

But the folks at Caltrans say there’s really not much of a hazard involved.

As reported here a few weeks back, the agency is putting an asphalt coating on the Simi Valley Freeway near the Los Angeles County line. Because the road is used heavily, the contractor can only work evenings and nights.

During these shifts, the contractor cannot always finish rolling the same amount of asphalt across all lanes. Under Caltrans rules, the contractor can temporarily leave almost two inches of height difference between lanes.

When this occurs, the “Drop-Off” signs are posted to warn drivers that they may feel a jolt if they change lanes.

“They should be extra cautious,” says Angel Aguilar, a Caltrans engineer who is supervising the Simi Valley Freeway project. “Or, if they have to be in another lane, they should change lanes before” the drop-off begins. Aguilar says paving on the eastbound lanes is finished. Work on the westbound lanes begins Aug. 16 and should last about a month.