Concrete Barriers Test the Mettle of the Bravest Drivers

Street Smart doesn’t much like to boast, but he’s pretty good behind the wheel.

Lightning reflexes once saved him from smashing into a stray cow standing in the center of a lonely Nevada highway. He’s bested an army of wild-eyed taxi drivers with nothing to lose.

The 405 at 5 p.m. still makes him laugh. And just last year, he posted a personal best of 3 1/2 days on a drive straight through from Tijuana to West Palm Beach, Fla.

Yes, Street Smart is cool as a cucumber plucked straight from the fridge when it comes to zipping down a highway.

At least he thought so until Caltrans turned a half-mile section of the Ventura Freeway in Camarillo into a high-speed sluice of white-knuckled drivers.

On either side of the freeway, road crews have erected an unforgiving wall of concrete barriers to shield workers from errant Cadillacs, tractor trailers and Accords. All done in the name of safety, Street Smart was told.

Street Smart, however, is a little skeptical of this so-called act of benevolence perpetrated by those who would snarl evening rush-hour to fill an inch-long crack with tar, paying no mind to the fact that we’re missing dinner, not to mention “Wheel of Fortune.�

Those waist-high barriers put the fear of the Almighty into drivers and, Street Smart thinks, place those same road crews--not to mention the thousands who must negotiate this narrow trough--in far greater danger.

Why?

To begin with, concrete barriers eliminate all margins for error. They make most of us tense, even paralyzing the eyelid muscles with a synaptic warning that if one blinks, it could all be over.

A small tack to the right and you’re buffing your paint job with concrete. A little to the left and you’re dancing the Watusi with a 10-ton semi truck.

And if someone has a problem in this confined section of the highway, then everybody has a problem. There is no room to avoid collisions and, in Street Smart’s opinion, that just ain’t right.

Street Smart is sure there are more drivers out there just like himself who get the jitters when they travel down the throat of this claustrophobic section of highway, hoping they’ll come out the other side undigested. Street Smart just wants to hear what you think.

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Dear Street Smart:

While trying to enter the westbound lanes of California 126 from Victoria Avenue, some guy blew past me and swerved to the right to get off the highway at Victoria Avenue.

Is it really legal for there to be a road situation where freeway onramps and offramps cross each other? And if so, how many people have been injured or killed in traffic accidents at the California 126 and Victoria Avenue interchange?

It’s the worst road situation I’ve ever seen, and I’ll bet you marbles that there have been some nasty wrecks there and that more will follow unless the situation is remedied.

I think the situation is ridiculously unsafe.

Bruce Berckman, Oak View

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Dear Reader:

Ever driven Tuna Canyon Road at night or exited the Ventura Freeway at Haskell Avenue? You’ve got about 30 feet to slow from about 65 mph to 15 mph to make the hairpin turn.

Now those road situations, dear reader, are bad.

But Street Smart knows how those merges can be, so a few questions were asked to those who would know best.

First of all, Sgt. Dave Cockrill of the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans spokeswoman Pat Reid both characterized the interchange you speak of as safe--in fact very safe.

Let Street Smart toss out a few numbers.

During the years 1995 and 1996, 46 accidents occurred at the interchange. Of those, 24 resulted in injuries to drivers and passengers, 22 resulted in only damage. No deaths were reported.

But Street Smart would be remiss if he didn’t put some perspective on those numbers.

According to Caltrans statistics, an estimated 2,372,500 people use the interchange each year, making the incidence of accidents minimal.

On any given day you can expect about 2,300 drivers to enter California 126 from Victoria and 4,200 to exit the highway.

Don’t let your experience sour your opinion of the road. It sounds like you might have just entered the highway when a less-than-courteous driver wanted to exit.

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Dear Street Smart:

Now that California 126 is open with four lanes from Fillmore to Piru, when is Caltrans going to raise the speed limit from 45 mph?

Jim Churchill, Ojai

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Dear Reader:

Street Smart feels your frustration. Taking the 126 to points east of Fillmore is a little like taking the slow boat to China, and that won’t change for a while.

Caltrans spokeswoman Reid said that even though the earthmovers are gone and the road is open, crews are still working on the shoulders.

She estimated that they will be finished in two months, at which time the speed limit will be increased to 55 mph.

But don’t put on the party hats just yet, because you can expect to slow down a little farther down the road.

Caltrans still has to finish widening a 5.4-mile section of the highway from Center Street in Piru to the Los Angeles County line, which will maintain the 45 mph limit until completion in mid-summer.