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There seems to be a lot more complaining than celebrating over the first round of funding reccomendations for freeway improvements from the state transportation commission. The Times' Evan Halper and Dan Weikel say L.A. is miffed: Left unfunded were several proposals that would have brought more relief to those major roads and to the heavily congested Riverside Freeway and other busy corridors. Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who chairs the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, called the recommendations "an insult to the people of Los Angeles County" and "unacceptable." Los Angeles County, where 28% of Californians live and which has the most congested highways in the state, has been recommended for less than 12% of the funds on the project list.
But wait! Some Bay Area officials feel left out too. Dr. Roadshow says the commission agreed "that Highway 101 be widened through San Jose, only one of five highway projects that Santa Clara County officials were hoping that would be endorsed for state funding." San Bernardino officials are disappointed because the much-discussed 215 widening was not on the list. Ventura and Santa Barbara county officials find themselves in a "catch-22": The staff of the California Transportation Commission has recommended spending $131 million to widen Highway 101 between Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, but the money would be available only if the two counties could first come up with nearly $20 million on their own to design the project.
The Valley, meanwhile, lost out on long-sought carpool lanes on the 405. "The recommendations are severely shortsighted, as any one of the 360,000 commuters who use the 405 every day would verify," said Matt Szabo, a Villaraigosa spokesman. "The people of Los Angeles voted for the bond in good faith that the promises of traffic relief would be kept."
Remember, this is only about a fourth of all the bond money that will eventually be distributed for transportation.
Channel 9 is showing more-than-the-usual afternoon rush hour gridlock on freeways as people exit for the long weekend. Radio traffic reporters say the 91 is jammed pretty much from Gardena into Riverside County.
The Times' ace night editor can attest to that! It took her TWO HOURS to get from Yorba Linda to downtown L.A. (taking the dreadful 91 and 5). The freeway travel time sign near the 5/605 interchange indicated 25 minutes to downtown 45 minutes to Glendale. That's the longest travel times she's seen on the route.
A lot of red on the freeway map.
The Times' Evan Halper adds some context and background to the road funding list: State officials today announced the first set of projects likely to be funded with the bond money voters approved in November and there are some big ones in the Los Angeles area. They include: • Widening I-5 from the Orange County line to the 605 Freeway. • A new carpool lane on I-10 between Baldwin Park and West Covina. • A network of carpool lanes connecting the 22, 405 and 605 freeways in northern Orange County. Staff members at the California Transportation Commission, a state panel that oversees funding for highways and mass transit, included the projects in their recommendations for how the state should allocate the first $2.8 billion of $19.9 billion in borrowing that voters authorized for transportation. The borrowing was approved as part of a $37.7-billion public works bonds package championed by the governor. The commission staff chose the road projects from a list of 149 proposed by the state Department of Transportation and regional transportation agencies.
Evan is quick to point out this is not the end of the line on this issue: The recommendations will be voted on before the end of the month by the full board, which is composed of nine members appointed by the governor. Construction could begin on some of the projects as early as fall. The 43 projects recommended by the staff could save motorists statewide some 270,000 hours of sitting in traffic.
Here are among the big Southern California projects that made the cut from the California Transportation Commission, which just released recommendations for its freeway improvement project.
-Carpool lanes on the 5 between Bloomfield Avenue and the Orange County line.
-Carpool lane on the 10 between Puente and Citrus avenues
-Widening portions of the 57 Freeway in northern Orange County
-Carpool lane connector ramps at the 405-605-22 interchange in Seal Beach (below)
We'll have more soon... Remember, these are just preliminary recommendations.
One step forward at the busy 60-57 interchange in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, but CNS also forecasts for delays: Caltrans plans to open the carpool-lane direct connector between the Pomona (60) and Orange (57) freeways in Diamond Bar in time for this morning’s commute. "The direct connector will provide safer and more efficient movement of traffic ... by allowing motorists to transition between routes without leaving the (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane, thus reducing weaving necessary in the former configuration," said Dave White of Caltrans. White noted that other construction work in the area will continue until spring on the $78 million improvement project, and motorists should expect lane closures during that time.
Calls it Oscar nomination morning for freeways. The California Transportation Commission today will release its preliminary list of projects it would fund with $4.5 billion in road bond money. The Times' Evan Halper will give us an update soon.
Golfer Phil Mickelsen has a way of beating Westside traffic for the Nissan Open. He's chartering a plane each day from near his home Rancho Santa Fe to Santa Monica Airport. Reports Register sports columnist Randy Youngman: If you want to take a "flyer" on who might win the Nissan Open this weekend at Riviera County Club, Phil Mickelson is a good pick, for more than one reason. Not only is Mickelson coming off an impressive five-stroke victory in last week's Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he has decided to commute daily from his home in San Diego County, between rounds of the tournament, in his own private jet. And he's flying it.
Youngman is skepitcal at the ease of Mickelson's high-flying commute: "It's only about an hour commute door to door. It's not bad at all," [Mickelson said.] I'm not buying the one-hour estimate, considering Mickelson has to be picked up at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, dropped off at a nearby commuter airport and, after the 40-minute flight to Santa Monica Airport, transported again to nearby Riviera. But I'm sure it beats the traffic on the Southern California freeways. For example, fellow tour pro Kevin Na said it took him 1hour, 40 minutes to drive from the course to Koreatown for dinner Tuesday night in downtown Los Angeles. "The traffic is brutal out here," Na said Wednesday. "Maybe that's why Tiger's not playing."
The toll road craze The Times' Evan Halper wrote about this week seems to be spreading. In Riverside County, officials are once again talking about the idea of adding toll lanes to Interstate 15, according to the PE: A plan to build toll lanes on Interstate 15 will get another look after Lake Elsinore's mayor questioned whether it delivers all the congestion relief possible. Mayor Bob Magee, who voted in favor of the plan in mid-December, said he still supports the idea of adding two high-occupancy toll lanes and a free, mixed-flow lane to Interstate 15 between Lake Elsinore and the San Bernardino County line. But he asked the Riverside County Transportation Commission on Wednesday to revisit the traffic and financial data upon which the plan is based to ensure the effort is doing as much as possible to handle growth in southwest Riverside County.
According to NC Times, the plan officials have been discussing would add toll lanes to the 15 between Corona and Lake Elsinore.
In Orange County, one commentator wonders whether the planned (and eventual) sunseting of the tolls on the 91 Express Lanes is such a good idea (especially if toll revenues would stay in OC). 
The state's transportation commission meets Feb. 20 to look at all the request for money from the voter-approved $20 billion Proposition 1B. Surprise! Dan Weintraub reports there are many more requests than money: The proposed projects include car pool lanes and new interchanges, road and bridge widenings, a new tunnel and a few entirely new stretches of highway. The most expensive single request is for $831 million to add car pool lanes and other improvements to a 26-mile stretch of Interstate 5 in north San Diego County between La Jolla and Oceanside. But only the first phase of that project, at a cost of $146 million, has the support of Caltrans. The biggest request Caltrans is backing is $730 million to build a car pool lane on northbound Interstate 405, from Interstate 10 near Los Angeles International Airport to U.S. 101 in the San Fernando Valley.
Not all the money will go to fixing road and building new ones, Dan says: "Caltrans has recommended setting aside $150 million in the first allocation for technology, from ramp metering to sensors that measure the flow of traffic along a stretch of freeway."
Downtown L.A. looks pretty cool traveling on the top of one of those convertible double-decker tour buses. But once the YouTube videographer enters the clogged Harbor Freeway, things go downhill.
KCET has a fascinating audio slide show about the history of Wilshire Boulevard that talks about the customer-made double-decker buses that for years ran down Wilshire. (The audio is by J. Eric Lynxwiler, who with Kevin Roderick wrote "Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles.")
Metro subway riders have complained for years about a lack of cellphone service (or pay phones for that matter). You might not be able to call 911, but how about surfing the web? According to CNS:
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today asked Metro officials to determine whether free or low-cost wireless Internet service can be made available on public transit lines. The mayor asked the transit agency to complete a feasibility assessment on how to provide WiFi service on the Metro Red, Green, Blue and Orange lines. The report is due back by April. This is not the first time Metro has considered providing wireless Internet service. Before the Metro Orange Line opened in October 2005, officials proposed offering WiFi, but determined it was too expensive.
New York officials, meanwhile, are talking about improving cell coverage in their subways.
Traffic bottlenecks have been increasing in northern San Diego County along with new development and changing commute patterns. Anyone who drives the 78 Freeway between the 5 and 15 have watched in the last decade as shopping center after shopping center rises. But some relief is in sight: For commuters who slog through bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstates 5 and 15 and Highway 76, key milestones are finally approaching. In inland North County, some work on I-15 is scheduled to wrap up by year's end, officials at the San Diego office of the California Department of Transportation said Wednesday. On the coast, construction is about to start on a new interchange. And completion is nearing on crucial environmental studies that will shape the long-awaited widening of I-5 and Highway 76. Meanwhile, the Sprinter light-rail line between Oceanside and Escondido is expected to open in December, said Karen King, executive director of the North County Transit District.
The NC Times says widening along the 15 Freeway should be done soon. That freeway is the main route for Inland Empire residents who commute daily into San Diego County for work.
The approval of the Grand Avenue mega-project has people talking about traffic.
Bottleneck Blog poster Ken Weiner backs the development, even with the traffic it will generate: "I welcome new development despite fears of increased traffic. I think that in order for alternative modes of transit (like walking, biking, and public transit) in LA to be given the proper attention, traffic will have to get a lot worse until driving is just unthinkable." The Pasadena Star News worries about ripple effects in surrounding communities: Economic benefits, good. But what about the ripples of traffic and congestion eastward? As a pass-through region, the San Gabriel Valley's east-west freeways - the Pomona (60), the San Bernardino (10) and the Foothill (210), not to mention arteries like Huntington Drive and Whittier Boulevard - are seeing even more congestion lately. Traffic congestion not due to accidents are already commonplace on Saturdays and Sundays on westbound freeways as people go to work, but also to shop or to play.
Grand Avenue also spark this lively exchange.
How will they build more freeways in a region that is already pretty much fully developed? One idea being discussed calls for double-decking the Pomona Freeway: In an effort to accommodate an expected tripling of truck traffic from regional ports over the next 25 years, planning officials are considering a concept to double-deck portions of the 60 Freeway. A four-lane elevated toll road, for use exclusively by freight trucks, would be built from the Long Beach (710) Freeway to the Barstow (15) Freeway, and north from there through the Cajon Pass. With truck traffic diverted to the toll road, planners believe regular vehicle traffic along the roadway would be eased. The concept was detailed by regional economist John Husing of Redlands in an address Thursday at Claremont Graduate University's Peter F. Drucker School of Management.
The Whittier Daily News says there are some roadblocks ahead "because of opposition from San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods, and the large price tag: $16 billion."
How bad is it out there? Burbank offcials are about to start a compehensive new effort to improve traffic flow. But one city traffic engineer said there are challenges: Complicating the signalization process in Burbank is the fact that peak travel periods, which were traditionally confined to a few hours in the morning and the evening, are now spread across more than five-hour periods, he said. "What really happened in a very finite and small time frame is now occurring over the majority of the afternoon," he said. Large-scale infrastructure modifications like street widening and double-decking — or stacking roadways on top of one another — do little to ameliorate the situation, he said.
Riverside County officials today approved their plan to open HOV lanes on a portion of the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley to solo drivers during non-peak hours. It would be a first for Southern California (Orange County is trying to same approach on the 22 Freeway) and has generated buzz. But it faces a stumbling block, according to CNS:
She said the one remaining hurdle is a challenge by the Environmental Protection Agency based on a possible increase in vehicle emissions, which rankled Commissioner Robin Lowe of Hemet. "Why would the EPA think that traffic volume is going to increase?" Lowe asked during the commission meeting. "The whole point is to get people moving so they’re not sitting there burning gasoline." To satisfy the EPA’s concerns, RCTC researchers and California Department of Transportation staff offered mitigation measures that would likely offset any potential rise in vehicle-related pollution, including oxides and nitrogen, Medina said. Those measures include expanding freeway service patrols on the 60 freeway between Main and Milliken streets, and along Interstate 215 between Alessandro Boulevard and State Route 74, according to Medina. She said four extra tow trucks would mean stalled vehicles could be hauled off the freeways faster, lowering the time motorists spend jammed in traffic and spewing pollutants.
Meanwhile, Orange County keep pushing ahead to open up the 22 (and perhaps other routes later). "We're going to do this as fast as possible," Ted Nguyen, an OCTA spokesman, tells the Register.
A new "master-planned community" is being planned along Interstate 5. But this one isn't Newhall Ranch or Centennial, the two mega-projects soon to be rising in North L.A. county. No, a developer wants to build 50,000 homes on the Kern-Kings county border north of Lost Hills, according to the Californian: Now imagine something different rising out of the arid landscape: a solar-powered community of 150,000 residents -- complete with walkable smart-growth neighborhoods; entertainment centers boasting a motor speedway and theme park; sustainable agriculture integrated into city borders; a thriving job market and state-of-the-art water management. That vision of "a model town for the 21st century" may seem like pie in the sky to skeptics, but it will become a reality if a Los Angeles businessman and a huge team of planning consultants have their way. Entrepreneur W. Quay Hays has filed an application in Kings County to begin the planning process for the estimated $10 billion community, but the plan has several hurdles to overcome first, says Kings County planning director Bill Zumwalt.
On Hollywood Boulevard today, LAPD officers are awarding certificates to drivers and pedestrians who demonstrate safe driving and road-crossing habits. But before the lovefest goes too far, commuters should start preparing for those nasty, Oscar-related street closures:
Can GPS navigation gizmos, freeway condition websites and other technology items get you there faster? Well, Channel 4 put them to the test, creating a race from Northridge to downtown. Two racers used various technology items, and one just had a regular map. The GPS machines had their drawbacks: The GPS says, "Keep right on Figueroa way." Keep right on Figueroa way. Where's Figueroa way? Did you pass it? I don't know. Oh my god what do I do? There was no sign for Figueroa way. While I wait for the GPS to re-calculate my missed my turn.
The winner was the guy who just used a map (and knew the streets of L.A.). But Channel 4 found that the difference among the three drivers was only 5 minutes.
Watch the video report.
Californians have a year before the law requiring the use of hands-free cell phone in cars takes effect. But that might not be the end of it. In Washington, there's now legislation pending that would ban text messaging while driving. "The dangers of text message while driving" is being talked about more and more. A case in Wales has gotten a lot of attention.
Does building mega-projects on rail lines make a difference? L.A. will eventually know the answer. Consider this:
--The Grand Avenue project -- approved Monday with great fanfare -- is being hailed as a step forward in traffic planning because it's next to the Red Line subway.
--So is the proposed expansion of Universal City.
--And the Hollywood & Vine mixed-use project, where ground was broken on Monday.
--And the L.A. Live sports entertainment beamoth? Backers note it's near the Blue Line.
The Times Cara Mia DiMassa examined the convergence of development and found some critics raising concerns: They worry that the sheer size of the projects — Grand Avenue's six skyscrapers, Universal City's 2,900 homes, and L.A. Live's huge shopping and entertainment venues — will overwhelm any small improvements made by increasing the number of people who use mass transit. That point was underscored in the environmental impact report for the Grand Avenue project, which found that the development could significantly worsen traffic in downtown — despite the fact that it would be built along the Red Line subway.
Back in December, the L.A. Weekly's David Zahniser wrote about the dubious claims being made about high-rise projects in Century City. One resident said it best: “They’re going to build 106 combined stories and it’s going to improve traffic? That doesn’t pass the smell test,” declared Mike Eveloff, president of the Tract 7260 Association. “They do this for every project, and what you end up with is huge amounts of traffic.”
What do you think? Comment below
The Times' Cara Mia DiMassa reports that the City Council (and likely later today the Board of Supervisors) has given final approval to the sprawling Grand Avenue project. As Cara notes, the mini-city at top Bunker Hill would be a grand experiment in a certain type of land use/traffic planning: Grand Avenue has emerged as perhaps L.A.'s most ambitious effort at creating dense high-rise developments that attempt to place housing next to rail lines, jobs, cultural attractions and shopping. While some consider it a model for "smart growth" aimed at encouraging people to walk and take mass transit rather than drive, others see it as a tax giveaway that is not in the interests of local government. They also question whether the project would be the regional magnet its backers hope.
The EIR for Grand Avenue found the project would worsen downtown traffic.
LA Times editorial board likes Grand Avenue. A certain supervisor doesn't.
Here's the wire item from CNS: A big rig hauling 40 tons of bananas overturned today on a freeway transition road in Downey, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, the California Highway Patrol reported. The accident occurred about 11:20 a.m. on the connector from the southbound Santa Ana (5) Freeway to the northbound San Gabriel River (605) Freeway, said CHP Officer Francisco Villalobos. The transition road was closed while crews worked to clear the scene.
Jokes? Headline suggestions? Comments? Post your comments below.
Remember a few months ago when a truck filled with chicken overturned on the Hollywood Freeway? Or the frozen pig parts on the 5?
Bottleneck Blog posters have strong feelings about toll lanes (especially the $9.25 a ride ones). R. Russell is disturbed: "For what do we pay taxes? Usually the answer is roads and infrasructure. Death, taxes AND tolls! At least, at one time, you get something (other than bombs) for your billions." But Pete McFerrin believes high toll prices gets people out of their cars: "Toll roads will only exacerbate the congestion. As someone who studies transportation for a living, let me assure you that you're completely wrong. Increased tolling will actually pull people out of single-occupancy cars and put them in carpools, vanpools, buses, and trains."
In any case, Times Staff Writer Evan Halper reports today that California could be seeing many more toll roads (including talk of truck-only toll lanes linking the ports to the Inland Empire): There is emerging consensus in the Capitol that the state should follow the path already blazed elsewhere and look to tolls to help bankroll new roads, public and private. Local and state transportation agencies are already planning several such projects on busy urban corridors, and some of the world's largest investment firms are lining up with proposals that could leave them in control of some major new roads. Voters last November approved billions in borrowing for roads, but that was only a start; the money won't meet all the state's transportation needs and never was intended to. Nor would anything short of a major increase in the gas tax — one for which voters appear to have no appetite. That leaves tolls. "The existing way of paying for these projects is not going to work," said Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). "We're used to free roads and everything being free. That is a 1950s model. If we want to move forward, we are going to have to head in a different direction."
Evan notes it's been a bumpy ride for the toll roads: Example: In Orange County, to close a deal with a company called California Private Transportation, the state agreed not to make any improvements to public roads within a mile and a half of the company's toll lanes on the 91 Freeway. Congestion in the public lanes grew intolerable, and the state ultimately bought the toll lanes for $207 million.
Have you seen these little devices on the top of traffic signals? They are sensors that automatically adjust the signals so that fire engines can pass through intersections. Similar systems are used to control traffic lights along the Blue Line and other rail routes. Backers say the "Opticom Priority Control System" -- which costs $7,000 per device-- can cut response times by 20%. Cities have been installing them for more than a decade, with Industry being the latest.
As the illustration (from manufacturer 3M) shows above, the fire truck sends out a signal that it is passing through. Public Works Online notes an effort by L.A. officials to use the technology for buses: Still in the planning stage is a ground-breaking pilot project by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the Crenshaw Boulevard corridor.... -Evaluate bus signal priority as a means of enhancing on-time performance -Investigate if round-trip running times can be reduced so that a bus can be taken out of the operating schedule or the headway can be shortened -Demonstrate the use of smart bus systems, including global positioning system-based automated vehicle location equipment to make the decision to request priority at signalized intersections.
The eastbound 210 Freeway is closed in Tujunga after a vehicle struck a man around 5 a.m.
UPDATE: Reopened around 8 a.m., but traffic all around jammed, according to morning radio/TV.
An interesting postscript to the 405 crane crash two weeks ago that brought L.A. traffic to a halt. It comes from Reverend Diane Gallo Ryder of Tehachapi Community Congregational Church. Writing in the Tehachapi News, Ryder says: Missionaries are generally known to be compassionate people of faith who can walk the proverbial mile in another’s shoes. Last week our church hosted a wonderful group of missionaries, a husband and wife team serving in Swaziland. They were scheduled to arrive at 5 p.m. but instead arrived at 7:30 p.m. due to a major obstruction on the I- 405 leading out of Los Angeles. It seems that a crane crashed into the highway and stopped traffic for up to four hours in some places. The husband was familiar with Los Angeles traffic so he immediately tuned on the radio to hear the latest traffic report. His wife, unfamiliar with L.A. traffic, turned to him when she heard the report and said, “I feel sorry for those people stuck on the I-405.” Laughing, her husband responded, “We ARE those people!”
Ryder sees a larger message in her SigAlert: "...Everyone gets stuck on life’s highway sometimes; and everyone bears the journey better with a companion along the way because “We ARE those people!”
At up to $9.25 a ride, the 91 Express Lanes have their critics. But President Bush is apparently a booster of the kind of toll roads pioneered on the 91 Freeway. His budget contains $130 million in grants for road projects that rely on "congestion prices." According to the NYT: Congestion pricing — the concept of charging higher fees to consumers for a good or a service at times of heavy use — is well established in businesses like hotels, long-distance phone service and air travel. And while London and Stockholm have successfully enacted plans that levy fees on drivers who want to enter traffic-clogged city streets, the United States has been slow to apply the concept on the roads. .... There are a few congestion-pricing experiments in the United States today. On a portion of California Route 91, in Orange County, drivers can choose between the free road and the less-traveled pay-per-drive adjacent lanes, in which tolls vary throughout the day and throughout the week. Driving eastbound in the express lanes at 4 p.m. Thursday costs $9.25, compared with $1.85 at noon the same day.
The new toll roads on the almost completed in San Diego will charge significant less than the 91 Express Lanes. But that could change if they are popular.
The WSJ asked two economists to debate the merits of the so-called "Lexus Lanes"
West Covina officer Kenneth Scott Wrede was fatally shot during a routine traffic stop 24 years ago. Today, he received a freeway honor. According to CNS: A portion of the San Bernardino Freeway in West Covina has been dedicated in honor of a policeman who was killed in the line of duty in 1983. West Covina Officer Kenneth Scott Wrede would have turned 50 today. Two signs reading "West Covina Police Officer Kenneth Scott Wrede Memorial Highway" will be posted -- one alongside the eastbound freeway lanes at Vincent Avenue and the other alongside the westbound lanes at Grand Avenue.
Telling commuters along the 91 Freeway that things might be getting better seems cruel. But there are some very early signs of relief along the gridlocked connection between the Inland Empire and Orange County (if you can afford it). The idea is to extend the 91 Express Lanes (a pricey toll road) to Interstate 15. According to the PE: Orange County transportation officials say they support extending toll roads on Highway 91 to Interstate 15 but want more input into how the process is going to work. Several members of the Orange County Transportation Authority said Friday they initially were caught off-guard by the idea, part of an aggressive road-building plan approved by the Riverside County Transportation Commission in mid-December. That plan calls for the Riverside County commission to build a new toll road on Highway 91 between the county line and Interstate 15. The road would be linked to the existing 91 Express Lanes, which are owned by the Orange County authority and run for 10 miles between the county line and Highway 55 in Anaheim.
But it's not cheap to drive those lanes. Got an extra $9?
It seemed like such a cool idea. But that high-speed rail proposal seems stuck in low-gear. You know it's bad when the Bee calls it "California's perpetually delayed high-speed rail project": Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes slashing funding for the High Speed Rail Authority from $14 million to $1.2 million, leaving the group with just enough to keep its doors open. "There's really no public purpose for me and my staff to be in office unless you want to move forward with the project," said Mehdi Morshed, the authority's executive director, who wants the governor and lawmakers to approve $103 million for the project next year. "If you don't want to move forward with the project, then close it down and save yourself some money." .... Trains traveling up to 220 mph would speed the length of the state, zooming through the Central Valley with stops in Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced, Modesto, Stockton and Sacramento. An express trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles would take just less than 21/2 hours. Construction costs are estimated to approach $40 billion. But Morshed said the longer the state waits, the more expensive it will get.
Writing in The Times, James E. Moore finds major problems with the high-speed rail plans, including: "Unfortunately, the system's financial plan is weak." Some still praise the idea.
Here's a map of the routes (the catchphrase is the hopeful "Fly California").
L.A. spent a fortune a few years ago replacing the old parking meters with digital-read ones. But The Times' Steve Hymon has discovered a flaw: When it rains, the meter display area fogs up, making it difficult for parking enforcement officers to determine whether the car is parked legally. That's resulted in some disputed tickets: Parking Enforcement Officers Angel Bellamy and Kevin Morris were in City Hall last week on behalf of the Service Employees International Union Local 347. ... Both said the city's meters were almost impossible to read after it rains because they fog up — the old mechanical meters worked better (They were all replaced by the new digital ones in the late '90s.) — and it's hard for officers to tell when a meter that reads "failed" has reset. That echoes what many readers have said. They park at a failed meter, and then it resets to show it is expired and they get a ticket. "When it resets there is nothing obvious that tells us that it has reset," Morris said.
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Meanwhile, Bottleneck Blog posters are pleased with the news from Steve Lopez that the disabled woman who got a ticket for parking illegal in front of her doctor's office won a reprieved.
Remember a few years ago when some cities started installing flashing lights embedded into the ground at some crosswalks? Santa Monica led the way on this traffic innovation. But now, 13 of the 15 flashing crosswalks are out of order. And the Lookout News says it will cost $800,000 to repair them. For the past decade, the City has used the flashing crosswalks as a way to ensure pedestrian safety, without significantly slowing traffic on some of Santa Monica’s major east-west arteries. Starting in the late-1990s with a handful of pilot crosswalks along Pico Boulevard, the City approved expanding the use of the systems in 2000. There are now six flashing crosswalks on Pico, five on Santa Monica Boulevard, three on Ocean Park Boulevard and one on Montana Avenue.
An 80-year-old pedestrian was killed last month at one Santa Monica crosswalk where the flashing lights don't work, though there is no indication that played a role in the accident.
More cities are adding the flashing crosswalks.
It's not an urban myth. Some people do fly over Southern California's gridlocked freeways to get to work. The AP profiles the Air Park in Rosamond, a subdivision north of Lancaster for people who like to live next to their planes. Listen to this guy's commute: John Wilson moved to the skypark nearly 20 years ago, looking for a bigger home and a place to park his Cessna 182. Before retiring in 2001, he flew daily to Burbank Airport, then drove six miles in traffic to Hollywood, where he worked as manager of technical facilities at a television network. "Flying was the shortest part of it," said Wilson, who averaged his air time at about 30 minutes. "All the time, I'd look down and shake my head and sympathize with all the people down there ... I'd say, Glad I'm not down there." Wilson, 67, said he also saved almost a dollar a gallon on gas by flying part of the way.
The story notes that "John Travolta lives with his Gulfstream II jet and Boeing 707 at an exclusive airpark in Florida that includes a country club and inn and the nation's longest private residential runway, at 7,550 feet, according to the community's Web site."
The Times wrote about the Rosamond "sky park" a few years ago. "We love airplane noise," one resident said.
How safe is L.A.'s subway system? It's a question a lot of people are asking in the wake of the mercury scare. The Times Jean Guccione and Andrew Blankstein focus in on what security experts consider a weakness: As Los Angeles transit officials pour millions of dollars into cameras and other high-tech security devices in the wake of 9/11, one major security gap persists: No one is stationed underground to help subway passengers in a crisis. Unlike most U.S. subways, Los Angeles' works on the honor system. There are no gates to pass through, no turnstiles that open when a fare is paid and no attendants — let alone police officers — stationed on the platforms. Subway planners designed it that way, hoping the open feel would encourage riders in a place weaned on the automobile but also reduce operating costs. But now — after Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials were embarrassed by the botched response to a mercury spill that was left on a downtown platform in December for eight hours — the look of Los Angeles' subways might change.
What's the solution? L.A. can look to other cities, but it will have to pay a lot: There is growing discussion among MTA board members and other local officials about a major overhaul of how the stations work — adding barriers and possibly gate attendants as well as more security officers. Some officials say the mercury incident proves that the agency's reliance on closed-circuit cameras to show what's going on underground is inadequate..... An MTA study produced last year found that hiring 500 instation attendants would cost $24 million annually. Installing turnstiles in the subway's 16 stations would cost between $50 million and $150 million. To secure the subway, the report said, three attendants per shift would have to be added at each of the subway's 54 entrances.
Read the entire article here
And post comments below. Jean Guccione will respond on Monday.
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