Protruding Bars Await a Contractor

Dear Traffic Talk:

Foothill Boulevard in Sunland has two bridges over the Tujunga Wash. There have been intermittent repairs on Foothill Boulevard and the bridges for several months.

The north bridge has four large cutouts on each side in what could be considered narrow pedestrian walkways. The cutouts are not well covered, with loose plywood and pieces of reinforcement bar protruding from the openings. It’s quite possible for a pedestrian or cyclist to stumble into the openings or become impaled on the reinforcement bar.

Shouldn’t the contractor improve the coverings or finish the work in a timely manner? This is an accident waiting to happen.

Nancy Howard, Studio City

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Dear Nancy:

The road repair project you’re referring to is on Foothill Boulevard from Wheatland Avenue to Lowell Avenue. It was started about two years ago by city workers. State officials relinquished the road to the city for improvements, a common practice for state highways that run through various cities.

The city is searching for a contractor to bend down the bridge’s reinforcement bars and cover them with concrete to smooth out the surface, said Roger Ketterer, civil engineer for the Los Angeles Public Works Department’s Bureau of Engineering. The work should be completed by summer, Ketterer said.

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Dear Traffic Talk:

In the past, it was required that a driver making a right turn do so into the right lane. But I was told this rule was eliminated in 1997.

In reviewing the 1999 DMV Driver’s Handbook, I see it still mentions turning into the right lane of the street you’re entering.

Could you clear this up for me?

William C. Muncy, North Hollywood

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Dear William:

The approach for a right-hand turn must be made as close as possible to the right-hand curb, said Evan Nossoff, a spokesman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

There are, however, exceptions to the rule. On one-way roads, drivers turning right may complete the turn in any lane available to moving traffic.

Another exception: If a street with three lanes for traffic moving in the same direction dead-ends, the driver in the middle lane may turn right into any lane available to traffic moving in that direction.

Traffic Talk appears Fridays in The Times Valley Edition. Readers may submit comments and questions about traffic in the Valley to Traffic Talk, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted. Fax letters to (818) 772-3385. E-mail questions to [email protected].