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It's going to be a weekend of traffic issues. Consider:
L.A. TRIATHLON: Expect periodic delays across the city Sunday (click below for details).
91 FREEWAY BLUES: Motorists who use the Riverside (91) Freeway through Corona were urged today to find an alternate route tonight and tomorrow night to avoid a construction-related closure that’s expected to clog traffic for miles. "It’s not going to be a desirable place to be," said California Department of Transportation spokeswoman Shelli Lombardo. "People should not go anywhere near it." Starting at 9 tonight, Caltrans will shut down the westbound side of the 91 Freeway from Serfas Club Drive to Green River Road -- roughly 1.5 miles -- to facilitate work on a bridge being built over the freeway at the Green River Road crossing, according to Lombardo. The closure will last until 7 a.m. tomorrow. On Saturday, Caltrans will shut down the eastbound side of the freeway, beginning at 11 p.m., from Gypsum Canyon Road in Orange County to Green River Road -- another 1.5 miles -- Lombardo said. (CNS)
ALL'S NOT FAIR AT THE L.A. COUNTY FAIR: BB readers say we can expect some congestion in and around the L.A. County Fair on it opening weekend.
Continue reading "Weekend traffic watch" »
 When lots of fuel spills on a roadway, it creates problems:
A dump truck that apparently hit a post spilled more than 100 gallons of fuel on a Los Angeles street today, snarling traffic and possibly contributing to a nearby accident, officials said. The truck hit a post while being driven on the 1300 block of Sunset Plaza Drive around 1 p.m., said Diana Igawa of the Los Angeles Fire Department. About 100 to 150 gallons of the fuel spilled out onto the road, bringing traffic to a halt and possibly leading to a minor accident, Igawa said, but there were no injuries. (CNS)
 Truckers sometimes get a bad rap on the road. But one BB reader from Glendale offers this story from a recent drive with her children, and how big rig drivers went out of their way to help her out of a potentially dangerous road rage situation:
I was driving from Eagle Rock to Corona on the 57 south. My two
young daughters were strapped into their seats in the middle row of
my Toyota van. They were laughing loudly at a nearby driver's
antics, or so I thought. When I asked them what was so funny, they
told me about this "funny" man driving a pick-up truck next to us.
Every time they looked over at him, he would jump up in his seat, and
they would laugh. When I looked over and caught sight of the man,
his expression was anything but benign. (Continued below)
Continue reading "Truckers come to the rescue" »
 Can traffic signals help prevent accidents? Engineers are developing a system that uses cameras and computers to attempt to do just that, according to Discovery:
The alert system consists of two standard surveillance cameras, each mounted on a pole at an intersection. One camera faces the main road and the other faces the secondary road. As traffic approaches, the cameras record and send video to a computer at ground level. Image processing software discerns moving cars from the background and determines how fast the vehicles are traveling. The software automatically projects the cars' trajectories and, based on their speed and direction, calculates the likelihood of a collision.
 A multi-car pileup doesn't happen every day, but it happened last night in Riverside:
At least 15 people were injured in a 22-vehicle pileup on Interstate 215, triggered when a big rig truck failed to brake for stopped traffic, plowing into cars and setting off a chain-reaction crash, the California Highway Patrol announced today. All lanes of the northbound Moreno Valley (215) Freeway were reopened around 1 a.m. today, about three hours after last night’s accident, the CHP said. According to CHP Officer George Foard, a semi truck hauling 45,000 pounds of watermelons was heading north on I-215, approaching El Cerrito Road, around 10 p.m. when traffic ahead of him stopped for a minor traffic collision. (CNS)
Another week, another protest at the border, this one over the Mexican big rigs: Dozens of truckers are waving signs and American flags at a San Diego border crossing to protest a pilot program that will allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to freely haul their cargo anywhere in the United States. The U.S. Transportation Department is set to begin issuing operating permits as early as today. For that to happen, the department’s inspector general must give his final blessing and Mexican authorities must issue permits to U.S. trucking companies to go anywhere in Mexico. (AP)
 Inland Empire transportation planners have been trying to improve traffic flow on north-south freeways as growth continues to explode. One key part of that is a major widening of the 215, which got a boost from the state:
The California Transportation Commission voted today to allocate $13 million to widen Interstate 215 from the Interstate 15- Interstate 215 interchange north to Nuevo Road in Perris. The allocation was part of a larger $674 million funding announcement for 35 transportation-related projects statewide. Funding sources include $225 million from Proposition 1B, $60 million from Proposition 42 and $389 million from the Public Transportation Account. (CNS)
 The Expo Line has won some much-needed financing from the state, The Times' Rong-Gong Lin II reports:
The California Transportation Commission on Wednesday approved a crucial piece of funding for construction of the Exposition Line light-rail line, committing the final $314 million needed to build the project. "It's good news. And it's good to see the state keeping its promises," said David Yale, director of regional planning for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Major construction on the 8.6-mile route between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City began in August and is expected to be completed in 2010. The line will cost about $640 million to build.
 Well, The Times' Rong-Gong Lin II has the answer:
A Caltrans study found that during the evening rush hour nearly one-third of carpool-lane miles do not meet federal minimum standards, which require that the lanes flow at speeds of 45 mph or faster at rush hour. The speeds are far lower on some major Southern California routes, including portions of the 405 Freeway from the South Bay through Orange County as well as the 5 and 210 freeways. Local officials say the 91 Freeway carpool lanes connecting Orange County and the Inland Empire can slow to 10 mph during rush hour, with portions of the 55 and 57 freeways doing even worse.
Do you think Caltrans' idea of raising fines for solo drivers in hopes of reducing carpool lane congestion is a good idea? Vote here at this Times poll.
 Looks like Metrolink won a round in the long legal saga stemming from the deadly Glendale crash in 2005:
An appellate panel has agreed to hear Metrolink’s challenge of a judge’s decision to allow plaintiffs to pursue negligence claims stemming from a train wreck that killed 11 people, the agency announced today. The Jan. 26, 2005, crash at the Glendale-Los Angeles city line also injured more than 180 others. In June, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Emilie H. Elias rejected an argument by Metrolink’s attorneys that the transit agency was immune from negligence claims in the case. But she encouraged the 2nd District Court of Appeal to review her ruling before the first trial involving three consolidated lawsuits begins next July 14. (CNS)
 This is an unusual traffic headache on the 105:
Boulders and a large amount of gravel blocked the road connecting the eastbound Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway to the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway in Downey today, authorities said. The incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. near the connector road to the northbound 605, said California Highway Patrol Officer Alex Gonzalez. How the debris got onto the freeway was not immediately clear, he said, adding that there didn’t appear to be an accident. (CNS)
 Big difference this year in traffic deaths in L.A. County compared with Orange County:
Nine people were killed in Labor Day weekend traffic crashes in Los Angeles County, compared to four fatalities in last year’s holiday period, the California Highway Patrol reported today. In neighboring Orange County, no fatalities were reported in the 78-hour period that began Friday at 6:01 p.m. and ended at 11:59 last night, compared to one death during the corresponding period last year, according to the CHP. Statewide, 49 people died in traffic collisions over the holiday period, compared with 46 in 2006. (CNS)
Continue reading "Comparing traffic stats" »
 Caltrans has an idea for relieving congestion on carpool lanes: Increase the fine on cheaters (which is now about $500). Gary Richards said Caltrans is struggling to unclog the lanes:
Carpool cheaters may be paying higher fines for diving into the diamond lane. Caltrans announced today that it will recommend raising penalties as a way to ease congestion in the state's carpool lanes and beef up enforcement from the highway patrol. The average fine with court fees tacked on is currently around $500. The Federal Highway Administration ordered the state to find ways to ease traffic in its more than 1,000 miles of carpool lanes. Caltrans estimates that speeds have fallen under 45 mph in 46 percent of its carpool lanes and of that amount, 13 percent are at stop-and-go levels, most in Southern California.
 Of course it would be Beverly Hills where this battle between motorists and cyclists comes to a head. LAist reports the blow by blow in what could turn into a rallying cry for bike activists:
Two weeks ago today, a motorist on Wilshire Boulevard came to an intersection and found herself behind somebody who was preparing to turn left. Under normal conditions this would mean slowing down and waiting but since it was a cyclist, the motorist accelerated and screamed “Get out of the road!” The incident escalated and resulted in the arrival of Beverly Hills Police Officer Prenesti who greeted the cyclist by yelling “You idiot!”
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