Cyclists Should Backpedal on Idea of Using California 150

Dear Street Smart:

It is an awful shame for Ojai Valley residents that California 150 remains closed so many months after it was damaged by last winter’s storms.

But I was wondering if it is legal for bicyclists to take advantage of the road’s closure and use the route for a scenic, traffic-free bicycle ride?

Brenda Earner

Ventura

Dear Reader:

No surprise here: Traffic officials are quick to nix that idea.

“Not through a construction zone,” Caltrans spokesman Vincent Moreno said. “That road is closed. There are no exceptions.”

But yours is not the first such inquiry. When the Ventura Freeway was closed last winter, bicyclists lobbied transportation officials to let them pass while repair work was under way.

Those requests also were summarily rejected.

“There are unsafe conditions for through traffic, especially for bicyclists,” Moreno said. “It’s just common sense that it’s not a safe thing to do.”

The good news is that the highway is scheduled to reopen in February, more than a year after it was first closed and several months after workers had hoped to complete the repairs.

Dear Street Smart:

I am concerned about the driving practices of some drivers in Ventura County.

My family and I are raising a guide dog puppy and have become more aware of the situations a visually impaired person would encounter walking the streets of Ventura County.

We regularly observe driving practices that would make street crossing for a visually impaired person difficult, if not dangerous.

Would you please reacquaint your readers with all of their obligations in regard to pedestrians crossing a street--especially when the driver is turning across a crosswalk that is in use?

Allen J. Adams

Camarillo

Dear Reader:

Blind or not blind, pedestrians have the same rights in the crosswalk.

Traffic officials say the standard rule is that no one should enter a crosswalk until it is safe to do so, according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Craig Smith, who works the traffic detail.

But when a pedestrian has entered a crosswalk, visually impaired or not, all traffic must yield to the pedestrian if he or she is close enough to a driver to constitute a hazard, he said.

Furthermore, when one car stops at a crosswalk, all other motorists must also stop. “The letter of the law prohibits any car from passing any other car that is stopped for a pedestrian using a crosswalk,” Smith said.

Smith said traffic officers write the most tickets for crosswalk violations around September, when schoolchildren return to classes.

“Everybody’s out of habit and the crossing guard reappears,” he said. “People are sometimes impatient. They’ll enter and cross, and that’s in violation of the law.”

Dear Street Smart:

After stopping in the left of two lanes on southbound Lewis Road at its intersection with Pleasant Valley Road, I continued south on Lewis Road only to have an irate woman motioning to me that I should have turned left onto Pleasant Valley Road.

The next day I noticed that indeed the street is marked for the left lane to turn left, but with no shoulder signs marking such and no left-turn requirement at all on the northbound side of Lewis Road.

Is this marking supposed to be there, or is it a vestige of recent construction at that intersection? My suggestion is to get rid of it. Without it, in a given amount of time, many more cars can safely navigate the intersection.

Laurence F. Scott

Newbury Park

Dear Reader:

Camarillo traffic engineers didn’t know the answer to your question about the left-hand turn marking, but said the point is moot.

They have been working with state transportation officials for months to get approval for improvements at the intersection of Lewis Road--a state highway--and Pleasant Valley Road.

The good news is that Caltrans issued a permit earlier this month, and the project will go out to bid in January, Camarillo traffic engineer Tom Fox said. Construction will begin in February and take about three months.

“The conditions you see today will be completely different when the project is completed,” Fox said.

Fox said the intersection will be widened, and a stoplight will replace the existing stop signs. “There’s quite a bit of traffic and during the peak hours, there’s a need to increase capacity,” Fox said.

Estimates for the improvements are $600,000, which will be shared by the state and the city of Camarillo, Fox said.