Bumpy Rides Raise Anger of the Disabled

Dear Traffic Talk:

We are having problems with the speed bumps on Highlander Road.

Our van is converted to handle wheelchairs for my handicapped son. This makes the van very low to the ground to accommodate a ramp for loading and unloading wheelchairs.

We always try to avoid speed bumps because handicapped people are jarred so much and feel every bump.

There are three speed bumps in one block so close together that it makes it very difficult for the handicapped to travel.

Our van can only travel about 5 mph there and cars jam up behind us.

The bumps are also a hazard and delay for emergency vehicles responding to the residents.

The residents who signed the original petition for speed bumps did not know at the time where they would be placed or how large the bumps would be.

We are taking a new survey to find out what the residents think now.

Doris Marihart

West Hills

Dear Doris:

Three speed humps in one block of Highlander were installed after a petition was signed by more than 75% of frontage property owners in two blocks, according to authorities. Humps in the second block are scheduled to be installed.

First, the three humps between Pomelo Drive and Newgate Road were installed after the Los Angeles Department of Transportation reviewed the petition signed by 12 of the 16 property owners in the two blocks, said David Roseman, an engineer with the department.

The department determined, among other things, that the street was a residential corridor with a consistent speeding problem, he said. The average speed of drivers has been reduced from more than 40 mph to about 30 mph.

An additional petition has been presented to the department from 105 residents who wish the humps removed, Roseman said. Of those people, however, he said 79 did not live on Highlander Road and 24 did not live in the blocks in question.

Of the two who did live within the two blocks, one of them also signed the original petition requesting the humps, Roseman said.

Also, three additional humps will be installed in the block between Newgate Road and Darnoch Way. One will be by the park and two by the school, whose officials were also consulted during the study, according to Roseman.

“The position of the agency is that speed humps would not interfere with the response of emergency crews in these two blocks,” Roseman said.

Dear Traffic Talk:

We live in the Toluca Lake area. I and several other parents get on the eastbound Ventura Freeway at the Cahuenga Boulevard onramp.

Our question is: Are we ever going to have a carpool lane?

There are a lot of us who get on there to carpool our kids to school and have to sit in traffic with the single people.

Alan Wilson

Toluca Lake

Dear Alan:

In the near future Caltrans plans to do a count to determine how many high-occupancy vehicles are using the Cahuenga onramp to access the eastbound Ventura Freeway, said Pat Reid, an agency spokeswoman.

The agency will also study if it is feasible to add a carpool lane there by restriping or if it would require a full reconstruction of the lane, she said.

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. To record your comments, call (818) 772-3303. Fax letters to (818) 772-3385. E-mail questions to [email protected]