Plans underway to improve SR 126 west of Interstate 5... project page: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07/travel/projects/126// (lists Design Option 1: Concrete Median Barrier and Design Option 2: Raised Median Island with Visual Markers) and article that documents public reception of the alternatives to improve SR 126: http://www.santapaulatimes.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/30839/Caltrans:_Scoping_shows_Hwy_126_project_more_controversial_than_before.html (article from 2-5-2016)
QuoteSixty chairs were set up for Wednesday evening's Caltrans Highway 126 Safety Enhancement scoping meeting but it soon became apparent more seating was needed for the crowd, including those that strongly objected to the long controversial plan.
Citizens and elected officials alike voiced their concern about the proposal to widen the highway, adding a median and "roundabouts" including ranchers that live and work along the stretch of the 126 targeted by the proposed project for 7 miles from Santa Paula's Hallock Road to Fillmore. ...
A series of "horrific accidents" led to the initial meeting in 2008 to address how to turn around the fatality accident rate on the 126.
Caltrans was asked to address the situation and Long said traffic calming methods – such as rumble strips, lowering the speed limit and signage telling drivers how fast they were traveling – were initiated. ...
The "Range of Options" shown during the Power Point is no build, a concrete median barrier and a raised median island with visual markers. The latter two options also include four roundabouts; railroad crossings would have an additional truck lane so the vehicles would not slow traffic.
Brian Frazer, a Caltrans design reviewer, explained the roundabout concept noting the design "may be new" to Caltrans with about 300 statewide but more common nationwide with about 5,000.
Roundabouts offer "great reductions in accident severity and fatalities," with 35 percent less overall crashes and 76 percent reduction of fatalities by slowing traffic to 25 mph to 35 mph and not providing "potential of a T-bone or head on" collision. ...
The 126 accident rate is now below state average said grower Guy Cole: "How safe is safe? How safe should it be?"
A Caltrans representative disputed the comment noting that the severe crashes and fatalities on 126 are above state average and "the core of this project is safety."
The CHP is "severely underfunded" and people that live in the area "tend to speed on this highway" said a Caltrans representative who noted that on his trip to Santa Paula from Los Angeles "I didn't see a single enforcement vehicle," on Highway 126.
"Do we have the power to stop the project?" a citizen asked.
"Do you want people to die on this highway?" the CHP representative countered.
"People die all over the world," countered the citizen angrily who noted it is "bulls–t" and that farmland could be reduced for barriers and roundabouts to be constructed.
"We invited you," in 2008 said Cole, "now we're uninviting you..."
Podesta urged the crowd to write down their comments and submit them by mail to Caltrans by the March 4 deadline.
Four roundabouts are proposed for SR 126 between Santa Paula and Fillmore:
http://www.vcstar.com/news/local/santa-paula/caltrans-proposes-4-roundabouts-on-highway-126-2c615650-d37e-7c8d-e053-0100007fd493-370389991.html
QuoteHighway 126 is undivided east of Santa Paula and has seen more than its share of fatalities for decades. In 2007, after a rash of head-on collisions, Caltrans proposed building a concrete median between Santa Paula and Fillmore. The agency abandoned that idea when people who lived in and in between the two cities objected, in part because a median would make it difficult to turn on and off the highway from the roads that cross it.
Rather than separate the highway, the new goal is to slow down traffic, which makes accidents less likely – and less likely to be deadly if they do occur. ...
A roundabout on a major thoroughfare in California isn't without precedent. Currently there is one on Highway 138 in Palmdale.
The four roundabouts on Highway 126 would be located halfway between Hobson Road and Fleischer Redmand Road; at the Toland Road intersection; just west of Spalding Drive; and at Oak Village Road, just west of Old Telegraph Road.
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