Crosswalk Can Give a False Sense of Safety

Dear Traffic Talk:

The problem is the unpainted crosswalk at Moorpark Street and Elmer Avenue.

Though there is a sign displaying a woman with a child, there are no painted markings. There is a school there and Woodridge Park is at the corner. The cars traveling up and down Moorpark reach very high speeds, but no one will ever stop to let you cross.

We are a neighborhood filled with children. We mothers find it impossible to cross the street to the park, sometimes waiting up to 10 minutes before crossing. This is very hard with toddlers and many sand toys.

It just seems the situation is an accident waiting to happen. With the park, the school and signs, shouldn’t there be the painted area on the road?

Tina Jayes

Studio City

Dear Tina:

Engineers from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation will do a formal study in the area to determine whether a painted crosswalk is justified, authorities said. However, officials warn that the area in question probably has not been established as an official street crossing for schoolchildren, said Doug Anderson of the Department of Transportation, who will be performing the study. Most of the children attending the school probably are bused into the area, Anderson said.

The department will check several elements, including pedestrian volumes, concentrating mostly on the start and the end of a school day.

Officials warn that sometimes residents mistakenly believe that a painted crosswalk at a location where there is no traffic light or stop sign will protect them.

But such crosswalks could end up being dangerous. Many cars, some traveling at very high speeds, may not stop at a painted crosswalk--as they do at stop signs and traffic lights--consequently putting pedestrians at risk, Anderson said.

Dear Traffic Talk:

Does Caltrans have plans to repair the gouged-out segment of the sound wall on the northbound San Diego Freeway near Roscoe Boulevard?

While they are at it, how about cleaning up and planting over the eyesore that greets motorists exiting the northbound San Diego Freeway at Devonshire Street?

Hal Bass

Northridge

Dear Hal:

Caltrans is in the process of awarding a contract for repair of the sound wall on the northbound San Diego Freeway near Roscoe Boulevard, said Pat Reid, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Meanwhile, a different contractor has been allowed to store some materials in the open area at the northbound San Diego Freeway at Devonshire Street, Reid said.

The materials are leftovers from the $15-million carpool-lane project that opened at the end of October on the north- and southbound San Diego Freeway between the Golden State and the Ventura freeways, she said.

The agency is in the process of cleaning up the area where the leftover materials are stored, Reid said.

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