Results tagged “caltrans”

A symposium held at Sci-Arc this last weekend featured winners of a recent locally-focused transit design competition. Adam Christian at his blog, Urban Insights takes note of the 2nd place winners, the Fletcher Studio, who "proposed urban agricultural villages that would convert freeway embankments into terraced hillsides. Affiliated bungalow housing would be built alongside. These developments would be a new source of 'green' jobs, employing farmers on a rotating, seasonal basis." With some 527 miles of freeway, there is about 960 acres of unused land that could be made into workable space. That's a much better iday than these bogus freeway flower advertisements. (Thanks, Streetsblog, Curbed!)

Just as one project on the 405 Freeway completes, another one is set to begin. A $1 billion project--partially funded by bonds--will take 10 northbound miles--between the 10 and 101 freeways--and bring car pool lanes to them, saving 10 minutes of travel time in the Sepulveda Pass, according to the Daily News.

Carpool lanes added to the Southbound 405 Freeway as part of a $167 million project were opened up this weekend, in the hopes this will relieve some congestion on the road. "Caltrans workers Saturday took out barricades on the southbound 405 freeway's carpool lanes from the Interstate 10 Freeway interchange south to the 90 Freeway," explains CBS2, adding that the last step was to replace the surfacing material in the center divider.

For those who travel the 10 freeway in the wee hours of the morning, take note. Caltrans will be closing westbound lanes between Puente Avenue and the 605 Freeway (map) all next week. Specifically, between 11:59 p.m. and 4 a.m. Monday through Friday. It's for the $114-million HOV lane project, which is expected to be finished in winter 2012. When done, the car pool lanes will whisk passengers between the 605 and Puente Avenue in both directions.

Governor Arnold Scwharzenegger last night vetoed a bill that would have limited the options of completing the 710 Freeway, which is considered the missing link of the regional freeway system, according to the L.A. Times. If signed, the bill would have stopped any possibility of a surface route, therefore increasing chances of a 4.5-mile tunnel under South Pasadena, connecting to the 134/210 freeway exchange.

A series of innovative and futuristic type of lighted and magnetic studs will be placed along the 110 Freeway out of downtown to help ease traffic congestion on the the northbound 5 freeway later this year. Basically, "at peak hours, the 'smart studs' would illuminate to automatically open a second connector lane on the 110, easing the long lines," explains the LA Times. If you know anything about this particular connector, you know it can be traffic hell.

A fiery crash yesterday evening has caused the connector road between the eastbound Artesia (91) Freeway to the northbound Long Beach (710) Freeway as CalTrans continues to investigate the deadly incident.

If only car pools lanes would be as easy as taking a bucket of paint and making some new lines. But adding 10 miles of car pool lane to the northbound 405 Freeway between the 10 and 101 freeways means widening it and $1 billion in funding. Homeowners in Sherman Oaks have already received notices that the state is taking their land, but the state is running into the economy.

After two truck crashes in six months time, the most recent leaving two dead and 12 critically injured, Caltrans has put a 90-day ban for trucks traveling on the Angeles Crest Highway. Five-axle vehicles traveling will be restricted from traveling between Angeles Forest Highway and the Foothill (210) Freeway. On Wednesday evening around 5:50 p.m., a truck driven by 43-year-old Marcos Costa barreled through an intersection in La Canada Flintridge killing a father and daughter. Last September, a similar incident left seven vehicles destroyed and one person injured when a truck slammed into a parking lot. The incident led to the city and residents asking Caltrans to make changes about trucks on the highway. Police say Costa ignored weight restriction warning signs before entering the highway.

After yesterdays deadly crash that left two dead and twelve injured, the LA Times finds that a girl scout made a powerpoint presentation (part 1, part 2) for the city of La Canada Flintridge and Caltrans prompted by a similar crash last September that destroyed seven cars and injured one. The city also had been pressing for changes after the incident, but they said Caltrans kept on delaying a study. The girl scout, Malia Mailes, said Caltrans at first told her September's incident was isolated and did nothing until the city began to bring pressure to the state agency. "Now I want to try to see if Caltrans is going to do something to help our community solve this issue," she told the Times. "This accident was completely preventable, and if Caltrans had listened to the city's pleas, maybe this accident might not have happened."

There's a big closure for one of the nation's most congested freeway interchanges.

In a state report card (.pdf) evaluating all the Caltrans districts, 7, which is responsible for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, has the worst grade. "It's actually kind of appalling," a staff member of Councilwoman Jan Perry's office said in an article from blogdowntown. Here's some of the breakdown:

Two men were killed this morning in a collision that may have involved a wrong way driver on the eastbound 10 freeway. "At 5 a.m. we have reports of a wrong way driver, but we don't have confirmation if this is the vehicle involved or if [the wrong way driver] caused the accident [and left the scene]," Officer Jennifer Connolly told LAist.

Caltrans will be installing some overhead signs over the next few days, so that means access between San Pedro and Long Beach will be cut off overnight starting Tuesday. From 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, the bridge, or the Seaside Freeway (the 47), will be closed in both directions between Ocean and Harbor. Also, the Long Beach bound Harbor Blvd. on-ramp will be closed from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. each of those days.

Take note Vegas travelers, Caltrans says leave early or stay late if you're traveling from the sin city back to Southern California this week. Southbound Interstate 15 will be shut down from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday to conduct blasting and rock removal along the artery. Northbound delays should be minimal, Caltrans says, but for those heading south, travelers who did not exit before Primm, NV at the state line will be directed off the freeway to the Primm Valley resort area where they'll be able to park until the freeway re-opens. If you know of any alternative driving routes, comment below! (Note: the highway was closed today due to snow)

If you've ever traveled northbound on Interstate 5 Freeway the day before Thanksgiving, you know it will take hours just to get out of Los Angeles, into Santa Clarita Valley and over the Grapevine (same goes for the Sunday after coming back into the city).

To accommodate filming of the feature film The Hangover, "a three-mile section of the eastbound Foothill (210) Freeway, east of the Interstate 15 interchange, is closed during daylight hours Saturday and Sunday," reports abc7.com. If this affects your drive, you will be able to find out what the detour routes are via notices posted on area streets. Although the filming is taking part under the auspices of a state-level plan to keep film and television productions local, people like the Mayor of Rialto are worried the freeway closure will negatively affect local businesses. According to the report, the city was not notified of the 210 closure until Thursday.

Since it's considered not only the busiest freeway intersection in the city, but the country, here's a little heads up for tomorrow morning: "The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will close the northbound San Diego Freeway (I-405) connector to the east- and westbound Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) Sunday, October 5 from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. for maintenance work. The northbound I-405 Sepulveda Boulevard on- and off-ramps will also be closed."

Remember when artist Richard Ankrom posed as a Caltrans employee and "fixed" the 110 North to 5 North (the left lane after the four tunnels) sign? He made it easier for commuters unfamiliar with the route when he added the directions to a freeway sign? It took him nine months and it was so well done Caltrans kept it up and did not press charges (we called Caltrans and the sign he put up is still up today).

Heads up to all those who use the 710. On Thursday night, from 9:00 p .m. to Friday morning at 4:00 a.m., the whole freeway, both north- and southbound, will be closed filming, according to Caltrans. For what film? We're not sure yet, but we figured the earlier the warning the better.

If you're heading out northbound out of Los Angeles County, take note. Caltrans will be closing two to three lanes for road repairs on the northbound I-5 Freeway between Vista Del Lago to Quail Lake Road tonight through Friday, from 5 p.m. to 11 a.m. There will be one or two lanes open and as always, the closures are weather-permitting and subject to change. 110 FREEWAY: Additionally, the Exposition Boulevard off-ramp from the southbound 110 Freeway will be closed beginning Wednesday morning at at 6 a.m., lasting through Monday, August 18, at 5 a.m.

A pavement rehabilitation project will force the closure of lanes tonight on portions of downtown area freeways. Up to three lanes on the 10 between the 101 and 110 freeways will be closed in both directions along with various on- and off-ramps starting tonight through Thursday, according to Caltrans (.pdf). Most closures will begin after 7:00 p.m. and go through 5:00 a.m.

A large pothole reported near the center divider on the northbound 110 Freeway yesterday evening turned into a full blown sinkhole overnight, prompting the complete closure of the northbound 110 Freeway near Fair Oaks Drive at the tail end of the freeway before it hits surface streets in South Pasadena.

Shocked by the horrific road raging motorist vs. cyclists incident on Mandeville Canyon Road this past holiday weekend, the cycling community has rallied in the last four days to fight for justice and to ensure that Los Angeles city leadership, law enforcement and the judicial system respond to incidents such as this.

The huge "Buses Only" parking lot at the Universal City Transit Center is rarely at capacity, in fact it is usually completely empty. This prime real estate sat empty and proved irresistible to this Caltrans driver who parked the rig, left the engine running, stretched, walked, made some phone calls and conducted some busy work in the back of the truck.

In the name of safety and a smoother ride, Caltrans is working on a is $7 million bridge deck resurfacing project. Therefore, that means some day and night time closures (pdf). Full and partial closures will occur Saturday through Monday nights and next Friday.

Metrolink's ridership got a shot of adrenaline yesterday as ridership jumped to an all time high of 50,232 passengers -- a 15.6% increase since Tuesday for the regional commuter train service.

Randy Cruz was riding home from work when she was hit from behind by a motorist who then left her in the street as he drove off and hid in a parking lot.

As powerful as the written word can be, sometimes it takes the extra help of a video and a little push by the "fourth estate" to get things done in Southern California. In today's weekly Road Sage column by Steve Hymon, he features Rich Allen who made a nearly 10-minute video to post on YouTube that highlighted the terrible pothole conditions on the 60 Freeway (video embedded below).