What’s the deal with those freeway grooves that make drives so noisy?
Q. Honk: While driving the recently refurbished 5 Freeway near San Clemente, I was struck by how absolutely SMOOTH and QUIET those freshly applied, asphalt surfaces are. Why? No ANNOYING rain grooves carved into concrete. When we are driving on those grooves, my wife and I have to shout. More and more, I’m encountering many new, asphalt freeway surfaces that will never be intentionally scarred with rain grooves. Why did Caltrans ever think that grooving SoCal’s desert-dry highways was a good idea? I lived back east (where it rains 30-40 inches a year) and never encountered noisy, rain-scored highways. One of Caltrans’ biggest mistakes? Rationale can’t be safety, because they don’t groove asphalt.
– Mike Jasiewicz, Laguna Niguel
A. There is nothing better than gliding along on a well-kept asphalt freeway, right?
Smooth, attractive.
Concrete is neither – and at times looks as bad as an unshaven Honk after he crawls out of bed.
But it comes down to money and the safety of workers, who don’t need to be out there replacing lanes as often when they are concrete.
Concrete costs more to put in than asphalt, yes, but in the long run is much less expensive, because much less maintenance is required. When Caltrans picks which material to use, many factors, such as the soil, go into the decision.
“Concrete pavement is designed to last at the minimum of 40 years, where asphalt is about 10, 15 years,” said David Matza, a Caltrans spokesman for Orange County. “In some odd, lucky cases, it might stretch to 20 years.
“Concrete pavement needs to have grooves to protect drivers from skidding, regardless (if) pavement is wet or not. The grooves do help with drainage, but it’s not the only reason why we add grooves on concrete pavement.”
On the 10 Freeway, in the Ontario-Redlands area, there is a stretch of concrete lanes that was put in during the late 1940s.
“It’s still going strong,” Matza said.
Asphalt, oh, that beautiful asphalt, provides sufficient traction, Caltrans says, without the grooves.
Q. Is it true the Stanton office of the Department of Motor Vehicles on Beach Boulevard is due to close and relocate? If so, when will it close, and when and where will it reopen?
– Dee Storme, Costa Mesa
A. Yes.
The DMV is closing its limited-services office in Stanton on Sept. 7, because the lease is expiring and won’t be renewed.
The office only handles driver license and ID card transactions, including bumping either up to a Real ID.
The DMV is aiming to re-open the office somewhere in a nearby location by June or so.
Q. Is there a law as to how close to a limit line you must be to make a complete stop at a stop sign? Some drivers approaching the intersection from a different direction will stop well short of the limit line, and then take off.
– Mike Tracy, Costa Mesa
A. Under state law, as Lt. Victor Bakkila of your town’s finest pointed out, if there is no limit line or a crosswalk, then the motorist is to halt at the beginning of the cross-street.
“For enforcement, we use a reasonable distance of no more than about three feet, and they need to be able to see the intersection and opposing traffic,” the lieutenant explained.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.