It takes you by surprise.
Driving north on Topanga Canyon Blvd. from Ventura Blvd., you emerge from under the dark 101 overpass into sunlight – and a traffic signal immediately in front of you.
The signal sits just before the westbound offramp of the 101, and just yards from the signal at Burbank Blvd. to the north.
There is no line indicating where to stop if the light is red. More importantly, many drivers are just barreling through the new light because of its location – you don’t see it until it’s too late.
Valley News Group reached out to CalTrans for an explanation of the location. We received no response.
We have to assume it’s to let more traffic off the westbound freeway, but concerns are that the position of the new signal is going to cause more accidents as drivers, unaware they are quickly coming up to a light, will just blow through it.
Be aware and take care when driving north on Topanga. CalTrans did fix the raised pothole problem we addressed in an early edition of this paper, by completing their paving project nine months after it began.
