EDITORIAL : FIX IT - NOW.

LIKE a cork in a simmering teapot, the bottlenecked 101-405 freeway interchange seems poised to blow with congestion and commuter frustration.

The response from Caltrans to this growing traffic nightmare? Ignore it and hope no one notices.

To that the Daily News says: Nuts.

It's time for action. Projections show that congestion at the 101-405 interchange, the nation's third-busiest freeway intersection, soon will extend rush hour from 6 a.m. to beyond 7 p.m.

Think that's bad? It gets even worse. Caltrans' top officials don't think anything significant can be done about it.

``If we had unlimited funds and unlimited right of way, we'd probably redesign it,'' said Robert Sassaman, chief deputy for Caltrans District 7, which covers Los Angeles and Ventura counties. ``I could name six or seven interchanges around here that we could do this with.''

Saying Caltrans is powerless to act because it doesn't have the money is an indefensible position from an agency whose sole purpose in life is customer service.

Of course, the state doesn't have deep pockets with enough cash to solve every problem. But the state has been collecting our gas taxes regularly, and we expect service in return.

Therefore, we ask for the appropriate elected officials and agencies to prioritize projects. We want an accounting of the money the state is spending and the justification for why this interchange has been ignored for two decades.

Not content to raise the question, the Daily News took up the challenge of finding possible solutions and found a man who helped oversee the design of the 101-405 interchange.

Jess Reynolds, a Caltrans traffic engineer who helped design the interchange before his retirement, outlined overhauling the interchange at a rough cost of $300 million to $500 million.

It's not the only solution by any means, but it's more than Caltrans has done about the interchange since Reynolds first designed it.

By posing a possible solution, we hope it will encourage a dialogue on how to ease a massive traffic nightmare for half a million commuters daily.

Reynolds' freeway plan is predicated on eliminating the Haskell Avenue Interchange. Additionally, he would widen exit and entrance transition roads and add a lane along the 405 south up the Sepulveda Pass, where traffic becomes sluggish during the morning commute.

The redesign would be carried out with full use of the interchange, with no detours, Reynolds said. No structures surrounding the interchange would have to be demolished.

And most of the redesign project is within Caltrans' existing right of way.

As for cost, Caltrans found the money it needed to remodel the Harbor Freeway and the 5-405 interchange in Orange County. Reynolds' plan would cost from $300 million to $500 million, officials estimate. But cost isn't the first issue.

The paramount question is: What are the options? Solutions need to be explored and presented for the public to consider.

Residents have shown they will pay for things they feel are absolutely vital to their safety, well-being and quality of life, such as Proposition BB for schools and Proposition K for parks. Certainly, commuters would look favorably on reasonable designs to ease congestion and increase safety.

Right now, the biggest bottleneck at the 101-405 interchange is Caltrans itself. We're tired of excuses.

We, like you, want solutions.