Watch for cone zones coming and going to Lake Tahoe
Q
On a recent Sunday from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., I suffered bumperto-bumper traffic on Highway 50 from Interstate 80 in West Sacramento. It took almost an hour to go 10 miles.
Of course, Caltrans chose to work on the busiest night of the week when people are returning from Tahoe or Reno. They squeezed four lanes of cars and trucks into one lane. Thousands of vehicles doing stop-andgo, driving with engines idling.
A fewmonths ago they worked after 10 p.m. on Friday nights on I-80 east from Hercules to Crockett causing long backups. That is the busiest night when people are going to Tahoe. If they must work nights, take peak traffic nights off. — Winfield Schubert, Oakland
A
Caltrans says you have your facts right. The reason there is work at night and on weekends is because weekday and weeknight travel is much heavier compared to nighttime traffic on the weekend. These projects will con- tinue because soon bad winter weather will halt all work, and these contractors and crews want to get the projects completed before rain and snow really hits.
Q
I drove Interstate 5 from the Bay Area to Oregon recently, and noted the unprotected median from Corning to Red Bluff. I’m curious as to Caltrans’ perspective on the need for building a median barrier along I-5. — Brian Berg, Saratoga
A
Caltrans says traffic and collision data does not warrant the need to construct a median barrier on I-5 between I-505 in Yolo County and the Tehama County line. The median area is wide enough to allow a clear recovery zone where a driver who may veer off the road has enough room to safely get back onto the road. There are rumble strips on the interstate to alert drivers if they veer off the pavement.
Two decades ago, prompted by a series of fatal accidents on Highway 85 in Santa Clara County, the state began adding barriers on 400 miles of high-volume freeways with medians up to 75 feet wide — nearly doubling the previous standard, which called for guardrails or concrete barriers only if a median was less than 46 feet wide or if it had a high rate of cross- over accidents.
The I-5 median is more than 75 feet wide and has few crossover crashes.
Q
Driving back from Los Angeles, we encountered many, many three abreast truck blockades climbing the steep grade from Magic Mountain to Templin Highway on Interstate 5. There were so many, this must be regular practice. It really slows traffic with three of four lanes blocked. I thought this was illegal, but no CHP anywhere. — Jim Sutton, Saratoga
A
It is illegal. Trucks are limited to the two right lanes.