MONTHS AFTER CHP COMPLAINT, BIG RIG BYPASS STILL STUDIED.

Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer

VALENCIA - City officials are still surveying the number of big rig drivers using a Valencia street to bypass a freeway inspection station - months after police said it's allowing dangerous truckers onto the road.

The California Highway Patrol wants the city to post a sign prohibiting semitrucks from using Avenue Stanford to bypass the inspection site on the Golden State Freeway - one of the busiest one-way stops in the state.

But the city isn't finished with its survey, and police are forced to sit back and watch the truckers drive by.

``The city has not made any progress on that,'' said Andrew Yi, a city traffic engineer. ``There is no supporting evidence that says the sign should be there. We are going to look into that - what are the impacts of that sign not being there.''

In January, the city removed a sign restricting truck traffic on the Valencia Industrial Center street. The sign, which restricted trucks weighing more than 7 tons from using the road, was removed after truck drivers approached the city asking about evidence or data that supported the posting of the sign.

According to state engineering guidelines, a study or data must show why a sign or traffic signal is needed before it can be installed, officials said. The county posted the sign before the city incorporated so truckers wouldn't bypass the station.

While the city conducts its study, CHP officials say more trucks are bypassing the inspection stop, making the roadways a more dangerous place to drive.

Sgt. Dwight McDonald of the CHP's commercial vehicle enforcement division said about 15,000 trucks drive through the weigh station a month, and several thousand are issued citations. But since the sign came down and word is spreading, more trucks are bypassing the station.

``We've been watching it, but there's nothing we can do about it,'' McDonald said. ``We have two, three, four trucks an hour. Trucks are going by all the time.''

The weigh station protects other motorists from big rigs with faulty brakes, overweight loads and unsafe vehicles or drivers, McDonald said. Last week, a driver was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. If he had bypassed the weigh station, he would have been an unknown hazard to other motorists.

``Truck traffic has been picking up constantly over the year and it's just going to get worse,'' McDonald said. ``If the city doesn't want to do anything else, there's nothing we can do about it.''