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October 3, 2008
How Bad is the Highland to 101 North On-Ramp?
Photo by Alex Wichman
This on-ramp coming out of Hollywood has always given us the heebie jeebies: "Northbound Highland Ave. at the 101 on-ramp, Cahuenga Pass. This spot is notorious for crashes, and I've finally decided to start documenting them," explains Alex Wichman, an LAist Featured Photos contributor on Flickr who goes by the handel cinemafia. We also love to hate how people cross the solid white line before they're even close to the speed limit or what other cars are traveling.
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It doesn't matter if you're close to the speed other cars are going - it's a solid white line! You aren't supposed to cross it! It's also a left-sided on-ramp, so caution is a real good idea here. Like the 405/101 southbound interchange. THAT scares me, especially when it's dark.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen people get on the 101 at Highland and try to cross 6 lanes of traffic so they can exit at Barham half a mile later. That's just stupid.
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Glad to hear no injuries from the crazy picture above. Less cars on the road = less crashes. Let's get some more subways/trains/bikelanes in this city.
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The southbound exit is scary too. That whole interchange is just bad and poorly designed. And especially when traffic backs up the off ramp during Hollywood Bowl events.
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This on-ramp is notorious in my family.
When I was just learning to drive (this was in the early '70's--in a '61 Caddy (read: Land Yacht)) my Dad tricked me into using this this on-ramp one Saturday afternoon on a practice drive.
There's nothing quite like the terror of being a brand-new driver behind the wheel of a Land Yacht and finding yourself suddenly in the fast lane of the 101 freeway.
I think my Dad considered it the automotive equivalent of dumping me in the deep end and me having to swim back to safety.
I couldn't get off the freeway (or was it that he wouldn't LET me get off the freeway?) until Sherman Way. I had completely soaked through my shirt (waist to shoulders) from the stress.
Years later, I told that story in front of my (younger) sister. She paused for a moment and said, "He did the same thing to me".
I loved the guy dearly, but I was NOT crazy about his driving skills class!
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The Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices says:
Standard:
Where crossing the lane line markings with care is permitted, the lane line markings shall consist of a normal broken white line.
Where crossing the lane line markings is discouraged, the lane line markings shall consist of a normal solid white line.
Option:
Solid white lane line markings may be used to separate through traffic lanes from auxiliary lanes, such as uphill truck lanes, left- or right-turn lanes, and preferential lanes. They may also be used to separate traffic lanes approaching an intersection.
Wide solid lane line markings may be used for greater emphasis.
Standard:
Where crossing the lane line markings is prohibited, the lane line markings shall consist of two normal solid white lines.So crossing a single solid white line is discouraged, but not prohibited.
The Highland northbound ramp is a bit odd because it wasn't designed as an auto on-ramp. It was originally the right-of-way for the Pacific Electric Red Car tracks, as they ran into the center median of the freeway. Back when the freeway was first built, there was no Highland northbound ramp.
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(After the end of the last bold block, those are my remarks, not the manual.)
[It's really annoying when the posted version doesn't match the preview. It was formatted correctly in the preview.]
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Well, if something is "discouraged" - hell, even if it's illegal - leave it to Angelenos to not care or not know and do it anyway!
Thanks for the tip, though, MapNerd. That's interesting about the Pacific Electric car. There are many off ramps without corresponding on ramps in this city, and vice versa. The freeways are really odd. :-)
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I think it's the structure of the exit and even the entrance. The way it's mapped out, it's hard to even tell that there is an entrance until you get to it. There is no on ramp as the freeway is on the same level as the road; however, there is a ramp to continue into universal city/ventura. The exit on the southbound is similar to if the 105 were a one lane freeway merging into city traffic at the bottom of the ramp. Psychologically, people are aware of the laws, but you give them the right situations, they'll break them. You can't expect someone to drive at 20mph if you put them on a speedway, and you can't put a rattlesnake on a rollercoaster and expect it to make you any pancakes.... 'nuff said
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Well, that whole area is a clusterfuck, but the issue of the onramp leading to the northbound 101 is entirely different than what happened here, nearly a quarter mile south.
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Most if not all of those old freeways have those short ass on ramps where you really have to floor it to get into the flow of traffic. How about those on ramps on the 110 Pasadena?
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Another point is that it's no-trucks allowed.
2 weeks ago i saw a white 18-wheeler (with full trailer) take the on-ramp next to me. It was a METRO truck, too! I honked at 'em but i doubt he heard.