Officials Launch Safety Net for Highway 126

SANTA PAULA — Promising “a holistic approach” to the carnage along Highway 126, officials Friday promised to crack down on scofflaw motorists and realign construction zones in a unified plan to make the treacherous highway safer.

They outlined an arsenal of radar guns, billboards, police cruisers and aircraft to be used in the battle against dangerous driving along “Blood Alley.”

They announced an emergency $280,000 appropriation of federal highway funds to pay for increased patrols and safety measures along the road.

And they promised to spend as much money and employ as many patrol officers and highway workers as necessary to cut down on accidents along California 126--especially in the next three years, as two-lane sections of the road are widened to four from Fillmore to Interstate 5.

“The deaths, the collisions and accidents along Highway 126 must come to an end,” said state Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-Los Olivos). “We all know this is a dangerous road. This has become a major east-west artery,” crowded by truckers, tourists and Santa Clarita commuters, he said.

Surrounded by state, county, local and law enforcement officers who have pledged money, manpower and support, O’Connell told reporters at a press conference at the Santa Paula Airport, “We will have zero tolerance for violations on Highway 126.”

Car wrecks have killed 11 people in just five weeks along the deceptively pretty road between Santa Clarita and Santa Paula--including two fatalities Jan. 11.

As the death toll rose, legislators scrambled to line up funding, while the California Highway Patrol made plans for beefing up enforcement and state Department of Transportation engineers revised their construction zone plans.

* By Friday, Caltrans road crews had begun shoving concrete barriers farther apart to give motorists more room through the construction zone east of Fillmore, said Caltrans district director Brent Pelker.

The crews also have been installing “No Passing” and 45 mph speed limit signs, re-striping the pavement and putting reflectors on the barriers. Travel delays are expected this weekend as crews limit traffic to one lane along a 2 1/2-mile section of the highway between Piru and the county line.

* The CHP has added an extra patrol car to the construction zone, and plans to assign three more officers--one per shift--to the Ventura headquarters, specifically to patrol Highway 126, said CHP Chief John Clements. The new officers will arrive as soon as paperwork is finished, but he could not say when for sure.

“Our men and women [officers] also grieve right along with the family and friends of those who we’ve lost on Highway 126,” Clements said. “There’s a lot of sleep been lost over these tragedies.”

* An ad firm and the Ventura County Agricultural Assn. will team up to erect a billboard ad east of Piru, warning drivers westbound from Los Angeles County of the dangers along Highway 126, said state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley).

* Santa Paula Police Chief Walt Adair offered his station to the beefed-up Caltrans troops so they can have a place close to Highway 126 to take breaks, write reports and interview accident witnesses and victims.

* Ventura County Sheriff Larry Carpenter announced his deputies will step up radar work and speeding enforcement in Fillmore and the other communities they patrol along Highway 126.

Carpenter, a lifelong Fillmore resident whose wife, daughter and granddaughter also ride along Highway 126, said he takes a personal as well as professional interest in making the road safer.

“But there’s also a personal responsibility that has to be accepted by every single driver out on 126,” he said. They must be warned, “Slow down. Stay sober. Pay attention. Stay awake, and drive responsibly like you’ve never driven in your life,” Carpenter said.

Drivers who are just passing through must be warned as loudly as the locals that the road is dangerous, several officials said.

* To that end, Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn said he has written a letter asking for help in spreading the word to Los Angeles County drivers, and mailed it to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, Linda Bohlinger, interim chief executive officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and officials in Santa Clarita.

The extra safety measures will go on as long as the road’s neighbors think they are needed, said Clements. “We hope we’ll have a substantial impact on that carnage that’s happening out on Highway 126,” with a “holistic approach” to the problem, he said. He added, “We’re here for the long haul.”