Letter to the Editor: CHP safety campaign – I blame Caltrans
I hate to undermine the CHP but this won’t work. California drivers are like ants, always there and always a problem. Except for the DUIs and no seat belts, I blame Caltrans! They haven’t improved any road in Plumas or Lassen since 1991. I
n 1990, they straightened a bad curve outside of Portola; in 1991, they got real proactive and put three new passing lanes on Highway 70, two down the canyon and one on Indian hill coming into Quincy by FRC and that was it, nothing else except a bridge replacement. I wrote before about 395, the two-lane death trap, but I guess bike lanes are more important. I drove that section of 395, at 5 p.m., the Herlong 500 started mostly Reno drivers being stupid just to save that two minutes.
I’ve seen the head on collisions, the fatal ones over and over but no highway improvement! Question for CHP, of the 5 fatal and 126 injuries, how many were local residents? So of all the visitors coming here, how many come from 4-6 lane freeways to our little mom and pop two-lane, sometimes heavy traffic highway here in Plumas and Lassen?
Again, I blame Caltrans, CHP doing the best they can but improving the problem area’s would help…
Jay Morris
Portola
Editor’s note: Plumas News talked with the CHP this morning and you are correct – that stretch of 395 north of Hallelujah Junction to Susanville is a deadly stretch and they are working to see improvements made.