Questions and Answers About Your Commute : Truck Drivers’ Shoulder Stop Is Waiting Area

Dear Traffic Talk:

Where the northbound Golden State and San Diego freeways merge, there are always five to 10 trucks parked on the shoulder.

Why?

The shoulder area near these trucks looks like dumping grounds.

Why are truckers given free reign to make this area their personal parking lot or dump site?

Joe Soriano

Santa Clarita

Dear Joe:

That area is commonly and legally used by truck drivers to check the air, lights and fluids as they await their turn to use the scales up ahead, said Rick Holland, a spokesman for Caltrans.

Littering is illegal, and Holland said Caltrans will ask the California Highway Patrol to keep a closer lookout for violators.

Dear Traffic Talk:

Along with countless others, I commute from the Antelope Valley to the San Fernando Valley on a daily basis.

I cannot believe no one has noticed the increase in commuter traffic that jams the freeway’s two lanes.

Are there plans to expand the Antelope Valley Freeway in the near future?

Dan Hernandez

Rosamond

Dear Dan:

There are projects either in the works or scheduled to begin soon to widen the Antelope Valley Freeway, said Pat Reid, a Caltrans spokeswoman.

First, two projects are underway to add a high occupancy vehicle lane on both northbound and southbound directions along a 16.3-mile stretch of the freeway from San Fernando Road in Newhall to Escondido Canyon Road near Agua Dulce, Reid said.

There are also plans to make a 6.4-mile section of the present six-lane freeway, from San Fernando Road to Sand Canyon Road in Canyon Country, into an eight-lane freeway by the spring of 1998, she said.

Also, a 9.9-mile section of the existing four-lane freeway from Sand Canyon Road to Escondido Canyon Road will become a six-lane freeway by the spring of 1999, Reid said.

Dear Traffic Talk:

After talking to several friends, I have found that many of us are unsure about the rules that govern freeway carpool lanes.

Is exiting the lane only allowed when there is an exit marked by a dotted white line?

What if you miss your exit after failing to read the tiny sign that marks it?

Is there a difference between a double yellow line and a double white line, as there is on the street?

Shawn Kelly

La Crescenta

Dear Shawn:

There is no difference between solid white or yellow lines on freeway carpool lanes, said Rick Holland, a Caltrans spokesman. Exiting the carpool lane is only legal at broken-up white lines.

The purpose of the carpool lanes is to move some drivers faster along, he said, but there is a compromise: not being able to go back and forth between carpool and regular lanes at a whim.

There are at least two reasons for restricting vehicles from crossing over readily, Holland said.

First, it gives California Highway Patrol officers a better watch of the freeways by preventing carpool lane violators from crossing over quickly to avoid being cited.

Second, it diminishes the potential for accidents that could occur if the high-speed vehicles in the carpool lanes were free to cross over at any time into the slower traffic, Holland said.

When possible, car-poolers should know their routes well enough to anticipate their exit, he said.