Dear Jon: Who fixes that busted traffic signal?

Cindy from Davenport wrote to me and asked, “Dear Jon, I and many others commute on Highway 1 daily. There’s a traffic light at Western Drive and Highway 1 that’s been malfunctioning for weeks. I called several agencies, no one can help. Can you?”

I can.

Santa Cruz, like many California cities can be tricky because state highways go right into town. Highways 1 and 9 are a couple of those highways in Santa Cruz. In the case of any traffic signal on Highway 1 or any state highway for that fact, Caltrans is the responsible agency for the signal.

We’ve all done it, pound on the crosswalk button. But that’s not what we should do according Russ Ellworthing, Maintenance Supervisor with Caltrans District 5 in Santa Cruz, “A lot of times people keep pushing that button thinking it’s going to change quicker and it won’t. All you have to do is push it once and it’s triggered.”

Once the proper Caltrans crew was called, they came out to Highway 1 and Western and found that the pedestrian button was jammed making the lights malfunction.

Caltrans has different crews for different issues, the Electrical Department was called and they came to the location and fixed the traffic signal.

Ellingworth says his crews have been on Highway 17 as of late and missed this issue.

Caltrans Maintenance does regular patrols in their area of responsibility. District 5 is the Central Coast counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. Each county has a maintenance office and crews assigned to a particular office will respond to their area of responsibility within the district.

So on a state highways, Caltrans Electrical crews fix all the traffic signal issues. And that’s even if the state highway traffic signal is in the middle of an incorporated city like Santa Cruz, its Caltrans responsibility.

All other traffic signals on city streets or county roads fall to that entity’s public works department.

So to report a maintenance issue with Caltrans, Ellingworth recommends you contact their public affairs office, “And in turn public relations will contact the party that deals with the issue.”

So here’s how you contact Caltrans for maintenance issues on the Central Coast:

By email: info-d5@dot.ca.gov

If you call the local numbers here in Santa Cruz or Monterey counties just ask for the public affairs office and they’ll take your report and pass it along to the proper maintenance crew.

In Santa Cruz call 831-423-0396

In Monterey call 831-3720862

Or you can call the public affairs office directly at 805-549-3318

If you have a question for me, I’d like to see it. Email me at DearJon@KIONRightNow.com.

I’m also on social media: Facebook ‘Jon Brent KION’ and Twitter ‘@DearJonKBrent.”