The location: Northbound Las Virgenes Road at Parkmor Road, just north of the 101 Freeway in Calabasas

The problem: A posted traffic sign on Las Virgenes at Parkmor says, “No Right Turn 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on School Days.” (Lupin Hill Elementary School is located nearby at 26210 Adamor Road.) Some motorists, especially out-of-towners, might not know when school is in session, and they wouldn’t know when they can or can’t make a right turn onto Parkmor from Las Virgenes.

Possible solutions: Remove the sign or add a flashing light that indicates when school is in session.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers DO THIS, DON’T DO THAT—Motorists are confused by the no right turn sign on Las Virgenes Road at Parkmor Road in Calabasas. But officials say the sign helps keep school traffic away from the residential neighborhood. Immediate action: No action will be taken, said Tom Gdala, Calabasas associate transportation planner.

The “No Right Turn” sign was installed over four years ago because school traffic was lining up by way of Parkmor and going through the residential neighborhoods in that area. This had inconvenienced the residents in the past, according to Gdala. Some residents have said that they couldn’t back out of their driveways because traffic was so heavy.

“Every morning, you’d have 500 or 600 cars cutting through there within a half-hour . . .,” Gdala said. “The ‘school days’ (provision) was added basically because (the majority of the cut-through traffic) was local traffic. If it’s external traffic and they don’t know it’s a school day, then they’re better off going around anyway, even if it’s not a school day.”

Gdala said the city has no way to indicate whether or not it’s a school day. A flashing sign that indicates when school is in session might only create sign pollution in the area, he said.

“I don’t know if that’s even approved by the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices—that’s our bible, basically, what we refer to when installing any sign with lights,” Gdala said.

“Primarily, the only two (instances) that are commonly allowed are for school areas,” said Gdala, “where you might have a flashing yellow light to warn people that it’s a school area so that they watch out for the 25mile-per-hour speed limit when children are present, and they have recently approved the flashing stop sign, which is something we just installed on Parkway Calabasas.” Both instances are safety related.

Based on history, Calabasas residents would most likely oppose flashing signage unless public safety was at risk.

“Plus, (the Parkmor) area is a cut-through for a whole other residential area just north of there,” Gdala said. “If you look on a map, you can see how that’s a perfect cut-through for a gated community there, Gates Canyon Park and all the condos and other homes that are up off Parkmor, north of Thousand Oaks (Boulevard) . . . There are no residential driveways, other than the main driveways accessing the condos, along Las Virgenes and Thousand Oaks Boulevard . . . That’s where we want people to go so that they’re not impacting the residential quality of life.”

Gdala said the city would be more likely to remove the “on school days” portion of the sign and not allow right turns onto Parkmor at all.

The sign law is enforced, Gdala said. Traffic enforcers have ticketed residents for making a right turn onto Parkmor during school hours.

Gdala hasn’t heard any other complaints about the sign.

“The residents that live there love it,” Gdala said. “Their streets are quieter.”

Have a traffic-related question or concern? Send it to “Acorn Traffic Man” in care of the address on page 4 or by e-mail to pic@theacorn.com. We’ll try to respond as soon as possible.