Traffic woes

The new traffic control device at Kanan Road and the 101 Freeway isn't the only problem with the traffic conditions in our city and surrounding areas. Congestion is increased by the inane ways the city has chosen to synchronize the various signals in our city. Too many times I see major routes being slaves to secondary streets as it relates to the timing of signals.

I have often traveled on Kanan Road attempting to traverse Thousand Oaks Boulevard to find that, even though in excess of 20 vehicles, both north and southbound, are waiting to cross the intersection only two to three vehicles are allowed through the intersection, causing traffic to back up for a quarter mile or so. With virtually no cross traffic on Thousand Oaks Boulevard we are forced to wait.

The underground sensors are set so tight that if a car does not cross over the sensor in one-and-one-half seconds, the signal phase reacts as though no vehicles are proceeding to the intersection. This not only causes gridlock but is unsafe, as waiting vehicles must follow the vehicle in front of them at an unsafe distance in order to make the light.

There are other major problems with the traffic flow in our city but there is not enough space in letters to the editor to list them all. Those of us who travel through our city know the problems, but we seem to be powerless to see the city engineers address the problem. Their stock answer is to indicate their traffic studies have our signals set as they should be. Their studies need to be revisited. Michael Lee Agoura Hills