Kudos to Caltrans for follow-up on driver's recent complaint
QCaltrans must receive more negative mail than positive. I wanted to share one person's experience submitting a complaint to Caltrans online.
Four years ago, as reflective dots and white striping were worn off old pavement on Interstate 280 from Foothill Expressway northwards, I complained about being lost with no lane markers on a summer night with cars whizzing by on both sides.
I complained to Caltrans and expected little. Much to my surprise, Caltrans confirmed receipt within a month and thanked me for the report. Within four days, they wrote again after researching my complaint in the context of the larger 280 repaving project to inform me that my specific complaint would be addressed.
Repaving in my smaller area had been completed for quite some time and I happily forgot about my original complaint.
Fast forward to today and I received a follow-up from Caltrans to say that, not only had my complaint been resolved, but the improvement expanded to include sections of 280 northbound and southbound.
Roadshow improves my attitude and my driving. — G. Tanimoto, Sunnyvale
AThanks for letting us know.
QIt is not only city streets that need attention, but also state highways, most notably for Los Altos and adjoining cities, El Camino Real. It is torn up from Stanford Shopping Center to Grant Road. I wish mayors of the affected cities would jointly pressure Caltrans to repave Highway 82 now, if not sooner!
— Bob Sutis
AThe resurfacing project for El Camino Real, scheduled to start this spring, will include resurfacing existing pavement, sidewalk and curb ramp improvements, some of which require right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation.
Q
The northbound right-hand lane on 880 between Mowry and Thornton is in terrible shape. Are there any plans for this stretch of road? — Sherry Hughes, Newark
ACaltrans has a project that will address these concerns. Among other things, the project will pave portions of Interstate 880 in Fremont in both directions, including the area between Mowry and Thornton. Work is tentatively scheduled to begin this spring.
Q
On a morning trip, the sun low on the horizon, I looked in my rearview mirror and noticed the red reflection on the back side of Botts' dots. I assume this was to alert wrong-way drivers. If so, how will this be addressed when the dots are gone? — Michael Quigley
AThere are several ways Caltrans could deal with this. One is to put a few Botts' dots down where a wrong-way driver might quickly see them and prevent a dangerous error. Another way is to put red reflectors on the back of freeway signs.