Freeway signage stumps drivers

Lack of adequate signage and a mandate from Caltrans have been blamed for traffic jams on Kanan Road at the 101 Freeway on- and offramps, said a city official.

Problems with the interchange flow have prompted drivers to lodge complaints with city officials and The Acorn.

The $25million Kanan Interchange project, which was supposed to ease the traffic flow with all right-hand turns onto the north and southbound 101, still causes traffic to back up to Thousand Oaks Boulevard during some peak hours. Cars heading south to get onto the freeway must merge into one of two right-hand lanes leading to the freeway or to Canwood Street north. With no signs indicating which lane leads where, drivers often slow to a near halt as they try to move into the correct lane at the last minute.

Another requently quoted problem is a traffic signal that periodically flashes a norightturn message to drivers heading onto Kanan Road after exiting from the northbound 101 Freeway. Drivers often find themselves in the middle of a rightturn onto Kanan when the light comes on.

"The reality is that if a driver is not warned that he may not be able to turn right on red in a language or sign he recognizes, once he determines traffic is clear, he has inched past this 'blank' black box and is on his way to take the turn," Cris Carmi of Agoura Hills told The Acorn. "At times, this turn will be unsafe and illegal."

Nathan Hamburger, Agoura Hills assistant city manager, said only Caltrans can install signs on the ramps. Caltrans is the state agency that has jurisdiction over all freeways and interchanges, including signage.

The city had never planned to install the flashing light, Hamburger said. Caltrans made the decision to install the light when it noticed that drivers turning right onto Kanan were not paying attention to drivers turning left onto the same road from Canwood Street.

"Caltrans came out and saw that people were not looking at the street ahead of them, (and) there were a couple of near misses," he said, adding that drivers were also not checking for pedestrians crossing the street in front of the freeway exit.

"It's technically a four-way intersection, but drivers don't treat it that way," Hamburger said.

The light has been temporarily disabled while Caltrans installs a green turn arrow, but it will be back in operation within a month, Hamburger said.

As for more signs to help drivers navigate the onramps to the 101 Freeway, Hamburger said the city expects to have better directional signage installed within 60 days.

"The ultimate goal is to keep traffic moving," Hamburger said.