Gates Urges Moves to Curb L.A.’s Deadly Traffic ‘Flood’

Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, saying that traffic congestion has caused a dramatic increase in fatal accidents, recommended Friday that the working hours of government employees be staggered and that officials consider blocking off parts of downtown to private cars.

In a letter to Mayor Tom Bradley, in which he likened the city’s traffic problems to a “catastrophic flood,” Gates said officials should return to the restrictions “which were so successful at making the 1984 Olympic Games traffic experience a positive one for our city.”

Among Gates’ proposals to expedite traffic were the use of helicopters to clear wrecked cars off freeways, prohibiting trucks from delivering goods during peak commuter hours and closing “selected portions of the central business district to all vehicles except high-occupancy vehicles.”

Such actions, he said, could be carried out by “an interagency committee” consisting of state and local transportation agencies, the California Highway Patrol, the county Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department in much the same way as these groups cooperated during the Olympics.

Harshest Criticism

Gates’ harshest criticism was directed at the California Department of Transportation, which maintains and operates Los Angeles’ vast freeway network. He charged that Caltrans is insensitive to peak commuter traffic patterns in the way it times its freeway work.

“They screw up traffic unbelievably,” Gates told reporters. “They never assess the traffic flow.”

Although statewide traffic deaths have decreased 5%, according to California Highway Patrol figures, Gates said that traffic deaths in Los Angeles through August were up almost 28% as compared to the same period a year ago. The department anticipates 350 traffic deaths this year, along with 2,600 major injuries.

Increased traffic is spawning “an undisciplined group of drivers and pedestrians,” Gates said, calling that “a police concern.”

Gates said no one incident was the catalyst that triggered his proposals. Instead, he said, the city’s Olympics experience two years ago, which included increased car-pooling and other steps to decrease congestion, showed what could be done to reduce congestion on the streets and freeways. But, he said, the problem has become worse again.

“I’ve been waiting two years for someone to do something about this,” he said.

Officials at Caltrans and the city Transportation Department agreed that traffic is increasing but said they are taking steps to alleviate it. Charles W. Ford, Caltrans deputy district director for the three-county region that includes Los Angeles, said he was surprised at Gates’ criticism. “Traffic is our primary concern” in determining the work hours of the agency’s freeway crews, he said, adding, “I really don’t know where he’s coming from.”

Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli said the agency’s “vehicle miles of travel” barometer shows that driving on Los Angeles’ freeway system was up more than 8% between 1982 and 1985, the last year for which figures are available.

“Traffic is heavy because of the increase in population,” she said. “And it’s getting worse. That’s why we’re putting in commuter lanes to deal with the problem.”

Approaching Crisis

Donald R. Howery, general manager of Los Angeles’ Department of Transportation, said, “We’re not in a (traffic) crisis, but we’re approaching one. We’re near the capacity so that any untoward incident can cause stop-and-go traffic or gridlock.”

The mounting congestion in the nation’s second largest city, Howery said, is why Los Angeles formed a 10-agency downtown traffic task force last September.

“We want to work together,” he said, but called the suggestion to close off portions of downtown “pretty Draconian.”

“It’s an old city, and you can’t walk everything in,” Howery added.

In his letter to the mayor, Gates said “normal business hours” for all government workers should be readjusted to 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the busiest areas.

“Government should take the lead to create support for this proposal,” he said.

Serve the Public

Howery said that although Gates’ proposal “is worth looking at,” government workers still have to serve the public and the later hours might prove inconvenient.

Street traffic in the city, Howery said, has been increasing by about 2% annually “and in some areas more than that.” He said that the converting of a number of downtown streets into one-way thoroughfares this month and in December should significantly accelerate traffic flow.