Octa's transportation blog

OCTA in the News for Sept. 12, 2013

 

1. Haltrans: Toll Lanes Debate
My Fox L.A. (video)


Hal Eisner (Haltrans): There really is a serious effort statewide to increase the number of toll lanes we talk about. The reason is about the quality of travel, life.

2. Haltrans: Toll Lanes Debate
My Fox L.A. (second video)


Today, Hal tackles the question, should the state convert more freeway lanes into toll lanes?

3. Two More Lanes On Bridge Over I-405 To Open
O.C. Register

An aerial photo of the Seal Beach Blvd. bridge over the I-405 as its rebuilt western span nears completion. The bridge will allow to four lanes of traffic when it opens Sunday, Sept. 15.


SEAL BEACH The long waits are almost over – four lanes of traffic are set to open on the Seal Beach Boulevard bridge over the I-405 this weekend, according to an announcement by the Orange County Transportation Authority.

This new, four-lane span of the bridge is scheduled to open at 11 a.m. Sunday, after one more long-term closure that begins at 10 p.m. Saturday. during which work crews will restripe the intersections and ramps and pave and grade the road.

After the new span opens, construction crews will turn their attention to the east side of the bridge – the one traffic has been routed over since work began in August 2012. It will be demolished and replaced with a three-lane span, bringing seven total lanes on the final product when it’s done in mid-2014, according to OCTA’s schedule.

Seal Beach Police Chief Joe Stilinovich said it was “fantastic” to know that the bridge is finally about to open. It has been the department’s “No. 1 complaint, period,” he said.

“If you’ve been sitting, waiting patiently in traffic for 20 minutes and you see someone cut into the line, it makes the public mad, and rightfully so,” said Stilinovich, adding that the department has worked with OCTA, Caltrans and city traffic engineers to mitigate the long lines that would form during peak use.

Alleviating the traffic will improve quality of life for residents and improve public safety, he said, removing “the traffic hazards that come with all that congestions” and giving his force “the ability to respond to calls quicker and provide better service to the community.”

The construction was required to accommodate the new carpool lanes being built on the I-405 freeway, the according to a statement from OCTA.

“While the original bridge was 75 feet wide and provided two lanes of travel in each direction, when completed in mid-2014 the Seal Beach Boulevard bridge will be 130 feet wide, just under 500 feet long and will provide four northbound lanes and three southbound lanes,” a statement read.

4. Officials Increase Train-Crossing Patrols
O.C. Register


Train horns were accompanied by police sirens Wednesday morning as local officials amped up patrols near train crossings to reinforce safety procedures during the eighth annual Officer-On-A-Train event.

Police officers boarded unloaded trains around 7 a.m. and helped alert patrol officers, who were stationed on the street near the crossings, as the trains approached. If drivers or pedestrians crossed the tracks unsafely, officers followed and cited them on the spot. Officials said they hope the extra enforcement will remind people about the importance of safety.

Jorge Villascusa, a police officer with the Union Pacific Railroad, said the program was started by the Fullerton Police Department and the Union Pacific Railroad and has grown to a countywide event over the past eight years. This year, participating officials came Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Fullerton.

“We are trying to educate people about the consequences and the dangers,” he said.

One of the trains, about 160 feet long, rustic-yellow and pulled by a Union Pacific Railroad engine, traveled about 10 mph down the Anaheim tracks. Anaheim Police Officer Sean Staymates stood in the train Wednesday morning and alerted patrol officers when the train was approaching a street crossing.

Staymates said the lights and bells are triggered a few seconds before the gates begin to drop to serve as a warning to drivers and pedestrians. According to California law, it is illegal to enter or cross a railroad crossing when safety lights begin to flash and after the safety gates have closed.

Violators on Wednesday were stopped by local police or train officers and cited. Drivers and pedestrians who break the law can expect to be fined $492, according to Orange County court records.

By the time the event ended, around 10:30 a.m., train and police officials had cited 126 drivers and 21 pedestrians, up from last year’s total of 125, said Joel Zlotnik, an Orange County Transportation Authority spokesman.

Villascusa said many students were cited while walking to school Wednesday morning. He said volunteer officers work with Operation Lifesaver, a rail-safety group that tours schools and lectures on how to be safe when crossing highway-rail grade intersections. Two volunteers sat at a booth at the Anaheim Metrolink station Wednesday morning during the event.

Officials hope that this yearly event will prevent railway crossing injuries in the future and increase public knowledge of the legal measures in place to ensure public safety.

How to stay safe when crossing railroads

Cross railroad tracks only at safe designated areas.

Look both ways before crossing.

Trains may not always sound their horns in quiet zones.

Don't walk on the tracks. It's dangerous and against the law.

Never loiter near or around railroad tracks.

Learn and follow railroad warning signs.

Don't go around or under when crossing arms are down.

Source: Orange County Transportation Authority

5. Pension Flap Imperils Transportation Funding
Capitol Weekly (September 11)

Local transportation officials across California are not happy: The feds, weighing in on a public pension dispute, are holding back billions of dollars. That means trains may not run on time, buses may not get bought or fixed and projects may not get built. And that could translate into a lot of unhappy passengers. “We’re sort of stuck in the middle on this,” said Joel Zlotnik of the Orange County Transportation Authority, which has $114 million languishing in limbo. “Our goal is to have this resolved.”

6. Westminster Councilwomen Slam Caltrans Push For Converting 405 Freeway Into Toll Road
O.C. Weekly


Orange County's political superstars tonight were Diana Carey and Margie L. Rice, both Westminster City Council members, who figuratively kicked the sniveling ass of a state transportation bureaucrat trying to sway the council to back off its vocal rejection of adding future, costly tolls fees on the long-ago-built 405 freeway.