Here’s a question from a Road Warrior reader:

Do you know why they are putting all the work into making a barrier in the median strip of Highway 101 in Ukiah? There is much more traffic south of Cloverdale and with less space between north and southbound lanes there is no barrier. I can’t figure out a reason they need a barrier, and I’ve been trying for weeks now. Heard anything? Karen

Here’s an answer from Caltrans District 1 spokesman Phil Frisbie Jr., whose responsibilities include Mendocino County:

The area south of Cloverdale to Healdsburg is in Caltrans District 4 area, and they will be able to answer why a median barrier has not been constructed there. However, having driven both those sections many times I do not believe you can draw an apples-to-apples comparison of the two, and the traffic volumes are also not what you would expect.

Route 101 through Ukiah has many more and tighter curves, and there is a higher concentration of conflict points where traffic is merging onto the highway. In addition, the traffic merging through Ukiah tends to be slower due to tight radius onramps with relatively short acceleration lanes. The traffic volumes are also higher through Ukiah. The 2010 traffic counts show that through Ukiah the peak month average daily traffic is 36,000 vehicles per day, but it is just 27,500 between Cloverdale and Healdsburg.

In early 2010, Caltrans District 1 proposed the installation of cable median barrier along an 11-mile segment of Route 101 through Ukiah after it was found that there had been 10 crossover collisions, resulting in six fatalities and 18 injuries. The cable median barrier is designed to reduce the number of these collisions which will reduce the number of fatalities.

————

If you have a question for the Road Warrior, please send it to jim.fremgen@pressdemocrat.com

————

Follow the Road Warrior on Twitter via @PDRoadWarrior