Kester 'uniquely dangerous' *

One of the Valley busway intersections where red-light cameras will not be tried is at Kester Avenue in Van Nuys. Two of the Orange Line accidents have occurred there, however, and the blogger at Here in Van Nuys is surprised (and at the same time not surprised) that nothing is being done.

Kester is uniquely dangerous. It is one of the narrowest "Main" streets in the Valley. The Busway on this dilapidated road is hemmed in on four sides by warehouses and industrial buildings, thus obscuring the visibility of automobiles to see oncoming buses. Just south of the Busway are three businesses (auto repair, a liquor store and a recording studio) with front entrance parking lots and cars that continually pull out in reverse--creating a traffic risk for cars proceeding northbound on Kester.

Socially, the street is one of the largest gathering spots for the "trabajador del día" who cross back and forth along Kester, as trucks stop to pull them up for $10 an hour gigs. At night, the street is poorly lit, and north of Erwin, there are pedestrians (who often jaywalk) pushing baby strollers and grocery carts.

This is a poor street in both maintenance and social status. No wonder Kester is forgotten.

Sr. Alcalde Villaraigosa su ayuda de la necesidad de la gente!

(* Blogger corrects: He has posted a fix to his Spanish. )

HinVN also recently took issue with Joel Kotkin's LAT op-ed piece about density in Los Angeles and became quite exercised about Oliver Stone making a 9/11 movie.