Traffic Signal to Improve Access to Metrolink Station

Dear Street Smart:

I’ve heard all kinds of rumors about a traffic light at the Metrolink station on Los Angeles Avenue in Simi Valley.

Is there any chance these reports are true?

A light would definitely make it safer to enter and exit the parking lot.

H. Turner

Simi Valley

Dear Reader:

With the help of some creative financing, a new traffic signal is indeed planned for Los Angeles Avenue at the entrance to the Metrolink station.

Because the signal would make turning into the station easier for people wishing to park their cars and take the train, most of the cost of the $100,000 signal will be paid out of a federal fund to improve air quality.

“This signal will help promote alternative travel,” said Bill Golubics, Simi Valley traffic engineer. “It will improve access to the station and, hopefully, help attract more riders.”

The feds will pay 88% of the cost, and the city will pick up the rest, Golubics said. The new light should be up and running by late fall.

Dear Street Smart:

The light at the westbound intersection of Blackburn Road and the new Kimball Road / Santa Paula Freeway over-crossing is timed extremely long.

Of even more concern is the fact that the signal does not appear to respond to pavement sensors.

You can sit a long time even when there is no other traffic on Kimball.

Many people use this road and it’s very frustrating.

I have returned to using the intersection of Kimball and Telegraph Road, where the light responds quickly to traffic flow.

Darrell Paulson

Ventura

Dear Reader:

It’s all a matter of perception, says Nazir Lalani, Ventura traffic engineer.

The signals for Kimball at Blackburn and Telegraph are timed exactly the same--110 seconds for a full cycle of green, yellow and red.

However, it may appear that the signal at Blackburn is longer because there is not as much traffic at that intersection--yet.

“Within the next year, there is quite a bit of new development planned for that area,” Lalani said. “It might not seem busy now, but we’re expecting a whole lot more traffic through there very soon.”

Regarding pavement sensors, during the day, the signals are programmed to ignore the sensors and operate in sync with one another to improve traffic flow, Lalani says. Only at night do the signals respond to the sensors.

Dear Street Smart:

Several months ago, a reader asked about possible synchronization of traffic lights on Victoria Avenue in Oxnard from the beach to the Ventura Freeway.

Given the high volume of residential, port and landfill traffic, I think that this is an excellent idea.

I didn’t understand the response given. I thought the definition of synchronization is that you wait on smaller side streets longer, but once you get on the main thoroughfare, you have a mostly unimpeded drive.

Could the suggestion be brought up again?

Janna Cline-Chanes

Port Hueneme

Dear Reader:

The question of signal synchronization on Victoria was last addressed in July, when Oxnard’s Traffic Department said it would study the effect of installing a timing plan along the roadway.

Prompted by your query, Oxnard Traffic Engineer Joe Genovese took another look at the suggestion and decided that it is a good one.

“City staff will prepare the necessary timing plan and install it by the end of February,” Genovese said.

The synchronization will likely be in effect only during peak morning and evening traffic times, to avoid causing prolonged delays for side-street traffic.

Write to Street Smart, The Times Ventura County Edition, 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura 93003. You may enclose a simple sketch if it will help Street Smart understand your traffic questions. Or call our Sound Off Line, 658-5546. Whether writing or calling, include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. No anonymous queries will be accepted, and letters are subject to editing.