Roadways

The narrow lanes weave through the forest, past timber guardrails, low-slung bridges with stone facades and trees whose crimson leaves glisten in the fall sun. But take a closer look. Those log guardrails hide steel reinforcements. And some of the charming bridges have been swapped out for modern, sharp-edged models. On second thought, don't take a closer look; you might find yourself wrapped around one of those magnificent trees. The Merritt Parkway, known to many Americans as a speed trap for David Letterman, for 69 years has coursed through southwestern Connecticut, linking what are now some of its toniest suburbs to New York.

Laguna Beach Police closed Laguna Canyon Road for four hours Tuesday and returned to the scene of a previous fatal head-on auto collision between a Tesla and Honda Accord. Two men who were driving to work April 2 were killed there. Police said a Tesla outbound from Laguna Beach veered into oncoming traffic and hit a Honda Accord head on just before 7 a.m. that day. Alberto Casique-Salinas, 46, of Anaheim and Armando Garcia-Gonzales, 38, of Santa Ana, who were in the Accord, died at the scene, according to police.

Taking advantage of the dry and sunny weekend, crews with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works were assessing damage caused by last week's pounding storms and were clearing roadways, underground storm drains and debris catch basins near recently burned areas. "When the sun comes out, we start work again," department spokesman Bob Spencer said Saturday. "We have a lot of road crews clearing out the roads of mud and debris. Flood-control people will be in the basins." Crews were inspecting 1,000 miles of underground storm drains and 500 miles of flood-control channels.

The idea came from something a state lawmaker noticed while cruising the wide-open roads of Montana. The highway often has carcasses - plenty of them. "There are a lot of animals and a lot of roadway in Montana," state Rep. Steve Lavin said. "I've had a ton of people ask me after striking a deer or an elk, 'Can I take it?' And I have to say no.'" But that could soon change. If a bill becomes law, Montana motorists could take home certain roadkill - and cook it up. And no, the "roadkill bill" - HB 247 - wouldn't mean open season on animals on the state's roadways.

Re "Judge's Ruling Sidetracks San Joaquin Hills Tollway" (Oct. 24): I've lived in Orange County for almost 40 years. During that time, developers' avarice and "cooperative" civic leaders have generated congestion of our land and roadways. Travel outside our neighborhoods is almost impossible. Smog lays along our coast spoiling the sea and the air. More smog from another freeway is just what we don't need. Perhaps rapid transit? KAREN M. PHELPS South Laguna

Re Shawn Hubler's "New Yorkers: How to Get a Life Out Here" [May 1]: I moved out here from New York three months ago. I grew up on Long Island and lived in Manhattan for 10 years so I know the city and the suburbs. Let's face it, L.A. is a civic engineering failure. The freeways? Yes, they are free, but you pay a price. No numbered exits?! Are you kidding me? There is no simpler, more effective system. Wherever you are, you know how to get where you're going. Take the numbers up or down!

Economist William Vickrey [who died suddenly Friday] became a familiar name to millions of Americans last week when he, along with British economist James Mirrlees, was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in economics (Oct. 9). Unbeknownst to most, however, is the daily relief that Vickrey's work is likely to bring to millions of commuters within the next several years. Vickrey was a lone voice in the 1950s when he pioneered the idea of "congestion pricing" to charge motorists more to use roadways during rush hours and less during other times of the day. The effect is to encourage people to use roadways as efficiently as possible.

Two-thirds of the way up the mountain from Brand Park, there used to stand a solitary oak tree, the only one along the motorway leading to the top. I used it as a goal in walks and mountain bike rides. I often sat under it and enjoyed its presence. A dozen years ago, the Los Angeles County fire chief, in his infinite wisdom about how to protect everybody from the threat of fire, decided the one-lane mountain roads, including the Mt. Wilson Toll Road and the Brand Park Motorway among many others--roads built by pick and shovel, mostly, on steep side slopes--should be widened out to accommodate fire trucks and to allow passing.

If the California Air Resources Board seriously believes that fewer pollutants are emitted at 20 to 35 m.p.h. ("Efforts to Reduce Road Congestion May Create Smog," Aug. 30), they should come down from their ivory tower and spend a grueling rush hour with the mass of frustrated commuters. They would find that 20 to 35 m.p.h. is seldom the steady speed modeled on their computer, but rather an average of hitting the gas, then slamming on the brakes--hardly conducive to efficient travel.

Thank you for "Crumbling Sidewalks, Roads Mean Costly Suits" (Jan. 24). Someday a smart attorney will put together a class-action lawsuit that may get the attention of our "head-in-the-sand council" (especially liked the "let's throw money at the squeaky wheels and maybe the whole problem will go away" attitude). Even Mr. Magoo could see the potential lawsuits just waiting to happen against our city. Road rage seems to be a new phenomenon. I would like to suggest that roadways that are beginning to resemble Third World back alleys and two-mile-long daily gridlocks on major roadways, like Sunset Boulevard west of the 405, could be contributing factors.

DENVER -- A late-season snow storm swept across Colorado's front range and began making its way onto the eastern plains and Midwest on Saturday. The storm, which was causing havoc on the roadways, dropped about 8 to 12 inches of snow in Denver, Kyle Fredin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, said in a telephone interview. The snow led to multiple accidents and roadway closures. In one area, south of Fort Collins, between 20 and 50 vehicles had crashed or gone off the roadway, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

If you are heading in or out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) anytime soon, you might want to pack a little patience. Roadway closures linked to construction projects mean the beginning of traffic headaches that start today (Tuesday) and will continue for the next two years, according to an airport statement. It won't exactly be carmageddon, but travelers would be wise to allow more time getting to and from LAX. The airport will begin closing some lanes on departure and arrival roadways because of a $4.1 billion airport upgrade known by the acronym (trademarked, no less)

Theresa Duginski's 15-minute commute turned into an hour-long ordeal as Thursday's massive blackout shut down traffic lights and caused miles-long backups at intersections and freeway offramps. "It was like people suddenly forgot how to use a four-way stop at a stoplight," said Duginski, a 21-year-old legal assistant who was sent home early when her office near downtown San Diego went dark. "It was pretty hectic. " Duginski was just one of the many thousands of drivers whose evening commute was thrown into chaos across San Diego County and southern Orange County.

A car plunged off Angeles Crest Highway on Saturday afternoon, killing an occupant in what was at least the fourth fatal solo-vehicle crash since the highway reopened, the California Highway Patrol reported. A stretch of the steep, winding route through the San Gabriel Mountains was closed from January 2010 to June of this year for repair of road damage caused by heavy rain that washed debris from slopes denuded by the Station fire. Three fatal accidents — one involving a motorcycle and the other two solo car crashes — occurred on the highway during the first three weeks after it reopened, and CHP officers blamed all three deaths on excessive speed.

In the beginning, there was Ma' Bell, Muff, Skull, and five others. They pedaled around downtown together, surprising a few motorists with a sight then quite rare in Los Angeles: bicyclists traveling in a peloton, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the city. "When you're a kid, you do those kinds of adventures," said one of those original riders, an East Hollywood resident in his late 30s who goes by his biking pseudonym, Roadblock. But they weren't kids. They were people in their late 20s and early 30s, most with professional careers.

The city of Joplin was changed from a typical small Missouri city into a zone of frenzied effort after Sunday's tornado as rescuers raced bad weather and coped with a shortage of supplies. At least 116 people were killed in the tornado, and the toll is expected to rise. Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr announced the latest death toll at a Monday afternoon news conference, according to the Associated Press. Rohr said seven people had been rescued. By midmorning Monday, about 20 hours after the tornado tore a six-mile wound in the heart of the city, residents searched through the rubble in what reminded many of a war zone.

DENVER -- A late-season snow storm swept across Colorado's front range and began making its way onto the eastern plains and Midwest on Saturday. The storm, which was causing havoc on the roadways, dropped about 8 to 12 inches of snow in Denver, Kyle Fredin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, said in a telephone interview. The snow led to multiple accidents and roadway closures. In one area, south of Fort Collins, between 20 and 50 vehicles had crashed or gone off the roadway, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

Re "Man Hurt in Laguna Canyon Crash Awarded $1.8-Million Settlement," Aug. 7: "Overburdened" and "much maligned" are far more appropriate descriptions of Laguna Canyon Road than "notorious" and "infamous" as reported. The fact is that this two-lane highway, although operating at two to three times its designed capacity, is well-maintained, well-marked and -signed, and has an accident rate which is at or below statewide averages for similar roadways. The fact is that over the last 25 years, every proposal by the state to improve the capacity at the highway has been successfully opposed by a cadre of isolationists and preservationists.

Should the Grapevine have been closed for nearly 24 hours because of a snowstorm? That was a question some motorists stranded by the closure of California's main north-south artery were asking Monday. The storm brought inches ? rather than feet ? of snow to Interstate 5. Several motorists noted that the scene seemed tame compared to last month's blizzard that snowed under streets in New York and the Northeast. "In other parts of the country, this is nothing," said Todd Anderson, who was delayed on his way home to Shaver Lake and spent Sunday night at a roadside inn in Castaic.

Motorists in the Irvine area can expect increased traffic into next week as roughly 10 miles of toll road remain shut down until crews can clear mud and debris left by the recent rainstorms. California 241 between the 133 and the 261, is expected to be closed until Wednesday, according to Allen Shahood, spokesman for the California Department of Transportation. Water continues to seep out of the hills, adding to the water already flooding the road. Shahood said the closure will increase congestion on nearby freeways.