HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE ? The main entrance to the large Hidden Valley Lake subdivision, off of busy Highway 29, is about to get a little safer.
Left turn lanes are slated to become part of the highway”s intersection with Hidden Valley Road on the west and Spruce Road Extension on the east. Hidden Valley is home to roughly 8,000 people, according to an estimate by District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey. Hidden Valley Road is the main entrance to the subdivision. Southbound travelers must wait in the road way to turn left into the entrance if there is oncoming traffic.
“You have to be really sharp, or familiar with it (the area), to navigate it safely,” said Robey.
Scott Fergusson, a District 1 supervisor candidate, was hit recently from two directions at the intersection while waiting to turn left into the subdivision from Highway 29. Currently there are no left turn lanes, meaning drivers coming over the hill must have lightning-quick reflexes in order to avoid slamming into a vehicle sitting at the intersection waiting to turn.
The California Highway Patrol reported a total of seven accidents at the intersection since 2002, four of them resulting in injury. None were fatal.
Statistics compiled by Caltrans pointed to a need for public safety improvements at the intersection, according to public information officer Phil Frisbie. Frisbie said Caltrans pulled traffic collision statistics going back five years from when the project was instigated in the spring of 2005. There were 12 accidents since approximately 2000, according to Frisbie. Of those, 11 involved drivers struck while turning left or rear-ended while waiting to turn left.
Because of the high rate of left-turn-related accidents, Frisbie said the project didn”t have to have a higher rate of traffic collisions than the state wide average for a similar intersection in order to qualify as a safety project.
Frisbie said the project has been advertised and bids are scheduled to be opened October 10. Pending formal bids, a Caltrans engineer estimated the cost to put in the two turn lanes at $1,110,000.
Funding comes from the State Highway Operation and Protection Plan (SHOPP). Construction is likely to begin in the early summer of 2008, Frisbie said.
Finishing his fourth consecutive term as District 1 Supervisor, Robey said the project is coming to fruition thanks to consistent pushing from two previous general managers of the Hidden Valley Lake homeowners” association.
“This is the result of many years of work by Bill Stewart and Rick Archbold, both general managers of the Hidden Valley Lake association.”
Robey said it was Steward who first requested that Caltrans improve the intersection.
“At the time they had a policy of not doing highway improvements that accessed private roads. They would on a county road or state road but not on someone”s driveway,” said Robey. Hidden Valley Lake”s roads are all private. “We argued that this wasn”t the same as someone”s driveway because it involved access to a large community. Even though the roads are private, the access is used by literally thousands of taxpaying California citizens who need safe access,” Robey said.
“Their policy wasn”t designed with a gated community in mind. Over time and because of our continued requests they modified their policy,” Robey said.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
