More signs to the rescue

Traffic remains a top concern for Calabasas residents and this week the city plans to install two newstop signs on Paul Revere Drive at Liberty Bell Road to help solve the intersection’s peak hour gridlock.

Previously, only Liberty Bell Road had a stop sign at the intersection. A pair of yield signs controlled Paul Revere Drive.

According to Robert Yalda, Calabasas Transportation/Intergovernmental Relations director, drivers along Paul Revere Drive often would get stuck in the middle of the intersection, blocking traffic in all directions and creating a traffic snarl

Although the Sheriff’s Department observed the situation and has cited drivers for stopping in the middle of the intersection, the city determined that balancing the right-of-way was the best approach to minimizing the gridlock and reducing the complaints.

The Calabasas Traffic and Transportation Commission discussed the stop sign issue during a public hearing in May and, along with the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department, supported the installation of the four-way stop instead of removing the roundabout at the location.

Calabasas also expanded the curbside loading and unloading zone along Mulholland Highway to Freedom Drive and installed benches so that nearby school students could wait for their parents to pick them up.

The city modified the loading zone so that parents could have an alternate location for student pick-up and drop-off and to minimize disruption to the residents living near the intersection of Paul Revere Drive and Liberty Bell Road, city officials said.

—Michael Picarella