Stop Sign Quest Can Be Tough Going

There's a new stop sign at the corner of Blue Canyon and Picturesque drives in Studio City, posted by city traffic engineers after neighbors said the hillside intersection wasn't safe.

There's just one problem.

The sign is on the opposite corner from where residents had requested it. So instead of stopping motorists on Picturesque Drive from whizzing down Blue Canyon to Ventura Boulevard, it stops them on the way up, where drivers already go slowly up the steep slope.

"They were very quick and very efficient, but it wasn't the sign we wanted," said Charles Dennis, a screenwriter who lives on Blue Canyon Drive with his wife, Kim, and 2-year-old daughter.

"It's very confusing," Kim Dennis said.

The Dennises and their neighbors had run into a common frustration of Los Angeles residents who try to regulate traffic in their communities: Their idea of an unsafe street doesn't meet city standards for installation of stop signs or speed bumps. The city will install a sign if an intersection meets any of 10 conditions. If it doesn't, such as the Picturesque Drive case, the request is typically denied.

Supporters of the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood secession proposals say these small conflicts are more than debates over traffic and safety. They argue that the city is inattentive to detail and unresponsive to community concerns such as those involving street signs. And that attitude, they say, has helped fuel a larger discontent with city government, convincing many residents that their problems are not taken seriously.

Stephanie Spikell, a Studio City resident who is running for a seat on the Valley city council that would be created if secession is approved in the Nov. 5 election, said that a Valley city would be more flexible, and more responsive to neighbors' concerns.

"They're very kind; they come out and listen to you and then go back to those very specific criteria and deny it -- regardless of whether you had a good reason for the request," Spikell said of city transportation engineers.

Spikell said that she recently requested a street light after an armed robbery on her block, but was turned down.

"If you call back and try to revisit the issue, you may get them to reconsider, but it takes a long time," she said.

One reason for the rigidity is sheer volume.