Freeway

Much of the Aug. 15 edition of the News-Press was devoted to coverage of the impassioned negative reaction of some local residents to a presentation by officials from the L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Agency who explained various proposals for an extension of the Long Beach (710) Freeway. I would like to speak for the silent majority in the Los Angeles basin who do not think they will be adversely affected by an extension of the 710 Freeway. A 710 Freeway that connects with the 210 Freeway was to be an integral part of the freeway system planned some 60 years ago for the Los Angeles Metro Area.

Some readers may recall that in my July column, I spoke about our move from just south of the Bob Hope Airport to the Glendale Rancho. My search for an affordable horse property (an oxymoron akin to jumbo shrimp), took five years. On the day I first saw our future home, I was instantly transported to a state of rapture. The house was pink, or peach, or some such lovely color, and featured a white picket fence covered with flowering morning glory. The house where I grew up in Wisconsin had a fence covered with flowering morning glory in the exact same color.

A man in his 60s had to be airlifted to a hospital with severe injuries after his truck slammed into the back of a big rig on the eastbound Foothill (210) Freeway in La Crescenta on Friday. A helicopter airlifted t he victim, whose identity was not immediately available, to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center with severe cuts to his face, arms and legs, in addition to internal trauma, Glendale Fire Battalion Chief Tom Propst said. The crash, which occurred in the eastbound lanes of the freeway just past Lowell Avenue, was reported about 3:20 p.m. after the man's pickup apparently slammed into the big rig's trailer.

Authorities are in the process of closing down all lanes of the Foothill (210) Freeway near Lowell Avenue in La Crescenta as emergency crews prepare to airlift at least one occupant of a car that slammed into the rear of a tractor trailer. It was not immediately clear how many victims needed to be extricated from the crash, which occurred on the eastbound side of the freeway just past Lowell, Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. All lanes will be closed shortly to prepare for the helicopter's landing, with the victim or victims slated to be airlifted to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

A fourth person died Monday after a Sunday night accident in Eagle Rock in which an SUV flew off the 134 Freeway onto a street, authorities said. Three people were hospitalized immediately after the crash -- a man, a woman and a 6-year-old girl. The man later died of his injuries, California Highway Patrol officials said Monday. Three people -- including the female driver and an 11-year-old girl -- were pronounced dead at the scene Sunday, authorities said. Their names were not available Monday morning because all of the victims' families had not been notified.

La Cañada Flintridge has become one of several cities to put elected officials on an advisory committee set up to study alternatives closing the so-called Long Beach (710) Freeway gap, flouting a request to send planning commissioners instead. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency had requested member cities appoint planning officials to the Stakeholder Outreach Advisory Committee to provide more depth of talent and expertise, but city councils have instead sent members of their own, who they say will better represent the political views of their constituencies on such a controversial project.

A driver of a minivan died after crashing into a Caltrans truck early Tuesday morning on the 10 (Santa Monica) Freeway in El Monite, California Highway Patrol officials said.  The 4 a.m. accident occurred on the westbound freeway near Peck Road when the minivan hit the truck, which was being used to pick up cones. Two Caltrans contract workers in the truck suffered moderate injuries and were taken to a hospital. The CHP had said earlier that a Caltrans employee was killed in the accident.

Fire crews extinguished a two-acre brush fire Friday off the northbound Glendale (2) Freeway, near Mountain Street. The blaze began burning shortly after noon on a hillside off the freeway, and was put out approximately an hour later due a large response, including two water-dropping helicopters, two Los Angeles City Fire hand crews and 20 engines from Los Angeles and Glendale, authorities said. Glendale Fire Capt. Cody Smith said the fire was close to homes, but firefighters were stationed near the residential neighborhoods and no structures were damaged.

The Western Avenue on-ramp for the Golden State (5) Freeway was reopened on Tuesday, completing a roughly nine-month construction project meant to help alleviate traffic congestion along the San Fernando Road corridor in Glendale. The project is part of the realignment of the northbound Interstate 5-Western Avenue interchange, with the ramps now ending at the signalized Flower Street intersection. Construction began in 2010, with the off-ramp reopening in November. One of the lanes of the off-ramp will be closed periodically for construction of the new I-5 carpool lanes between Ventura (134)

Good morning, readers. Today is Thursday, July 12, 2012. Some good news and some bad news: Crime is down in the region, but homicides are on the rise this year. Shootings have decreased 34% in the San Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles Police Department has reported 33 homicides in the area  for 2012 .  Daily News Over in La Cañada Flintridge, burglaries have dropped . Valley Sun For the second time in the past month, a car chase has ended on the Hollywood (170)