CHP REMOVES TRUCK SIGN.

Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The California Highway Patrol has backtracked in its battle with the city over a road that parallels the I-5 and bypasses a truck inspection facility.

Without discussion, CHP officials told the city last week that a sign prohibiting truck traffic along Avenue Stanford was not needed - less than a month after a special task force study found more than 70 big-rigs, some with safety violations, were using the road.

``That is not as big of a problem as previously thought,'' said Officer Doug Sweeney, CHP spokesman. ``It's not used as a bypass for the scales.''

Lt. Bill Murphy, commander of the truck scales, and Capt. Brian Kilmer, acting chief of the Southern California Highway Patrol, conducted additional studies and determined a sign wasn't necessary, Sweeney said. The Mobile Road Enforcement Unit, however, will patrol the area and issue necessary citations.

It's a happy ending for the city of Santa Clarita, which has been debating the sign's replacement with the CHP since spring, officials said.

``There wasn't a debate,'' said Ian Pari, association traffic engineer. ``It all evaporated.''

The city removed a sign in January restricting trucks weighing more than seven tons from using the road after truck drivers approached the city asking about evidence or data to support the posting of the sign.

With no proof that trucks used to the route to bypass the station, the city removed the sign and refused to repost if after the CHP complained that big-rigs were using the road, making the Golden State Freeway unsafe.

Then, a month ago, officers with a CHP task force counted 72 trucks driving up Avenue Stanford to state Highway 126 instead of using the Golden State Freeway.

Several drivers were cited because their loads were overweight; others were forced to make minor repairs before they hit the road again - routine practices at the weigh station.

Officers inspected 41 trucks, asking drivers their purpose in using Avenue Stanford. Of those stopped, 16 driver said they were in the industrial center for business but only four had documentation supporting that statement.

But because of the construction zone between Magic Mountain Parkway and state Highway 126, CHP officials said it would be more convenient for trucks doing business in the Valencia Industrial Center to use Avenue Stanford rather than backtrack through the city to Valencia Boulevard.

``We want to make it more convenient for trucks in the industrial center so they don't have to use the freeway,'' Sweeney said.