Q. They are widening the 405 Freeway in Orange County and putting up sound walls on both sides. Interestingly, workers seem to be putting in a couple of doors in those sound walls. They have a garage-door-type opening, and they have nice new locks on them. I was wondering if you know the purpose of the doors, and who would have the keys for the locks?
– Larry Geisse, Huntington Beach
A. Such doors are common on California freeways.
The locks belong to Caltrans, so its crews would have the keys or the codes, and the doors provide maintenance crews access to behind-the-scenes stuff. Certainly not as interesting as Disneyland’s or the Wizard of Oz‘s.
But the passageways are important. Megan Abba, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which is overseeing the massive 405 project, said the doors allow crews to get to drainage channels, the large poles that reach out over the freeway with signs, and cabinets holding hardware for utilities such as for electricity.
The doors also make it easier to do landscaping in some instances and to inspect the back sides of the sound walls, added Nathan Abler, a Caltrans spokesman.
“The (doors) are typically no closer than 1,000 feet apart; however, there may be instances where they are closer together depending on the need,” Abba told Honk in an email. “There are approximately 24 of these access (doors) on the sound walls along the 16-mile I-405 Improvement Project.”
Q. I thought it might be of interest to mention the electronic speed-indicator signs that nobody pays any attention to here in Southern California. While enjoying the fall colors driving through the small villages east of Québec City in Canada along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, we saw many of them but with a nice touch: red numbers if you were over the speed limit, green if at or below it; and a “Merci” displayed if you were in green territory before passing the sign. Perhaps wishful thinking, but perhaps more drivers would slow down here if they got a smidgen of positive reinforcement via a “Thank You.”
– Ross Pinyan, Irvine
A. Honk agrees, and so would B. F. Skinner, the late, famed psychologist, who reasoned that positive reinforcement goes a long way in determining what people do.
HONKIN’ FACT: On Tuesday, Nov. 15, Gov. Gavin Newsom handed out the most prestigious honor California has for its employees, the Governor’s State Employee Medal of Valor Award, to four Caltrans workers, including James Burkhouse, an equipment operator, for his “lifesaving actions.” On April 2, 2020, in rural Lucerne Valley in San Bernardino County, he came across a head-on collision of a semi and a small vehicle, whose driver was severely injured. The ex-firefighter and an off-duty helicopter paramedic, who had medical equipment, applied tourniquets, held the driver’s neck and used a bag valve mask to help the victim breathe. It took 90 minutes for county firefighters to free the driver, who ended up in a coma for months, but has recovered (Source: state of California).
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. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk
Source: Orange County Register
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