Ask TBC: What is the Fairfax-178 "design flaw"?
Q: For months now it has been explained that the westbound off-ramp to Fairfax on 178 has been closed or delayed due to a “design flaw.” In all of my readings not one time has this “flaw” been explained, so can you please tell us?
- Wayne Baker
A: Here’s what city officials said:
Related Photos
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian A construction vehicle comes up the closed westbound highway 178 entrance lanes of at Fairfax. The westbound lanes on the highway opened Thursday but the exit and entrance lanes are still not open at Fairfax.
Caltrans requires paved median area (which is called the gore area) between the ramp and the freeway to be relatively flat. This is in case a driver decides at the last minute to change his or her mind of using the ramp and crosses this area to either get to the ramp or get from the ramp back to the freeway.
This gore as constructed is too steep and does not meet Caltrans standards. To fix this problem, the ramp must be realigned and lowered.
Q: For quite a while there used to be a sign on Stine Road (right off of Panama) indicating that a Body Xchange would be coming soon. I noticed this week that the sign has been removed.
Are there still plans for a future Body Xchange at this location?
- Denise Buzzini
A: We have left about a half dozen messages at Body Xchange headquarters over the last few weeks with your question and haven’t received a call back. We’ll continue to call, but wanted to let you know we’ve been trying to get an answer, to no avail.
Q: Why is it on the first no-burn day of the season I see several tractors plowing their fields sending huge plumes of dust hundreds of feet in the air? I thought the point of a no-burn day was to reduce the amount of particulate in the air.
- Matthew Milbury
A: Scott Nester, director of planning at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, responded:
The no-burn restrictions predominantly apply to fine particulates (PM 2.5), which is a different pollutant than coarse particulates (PM 10), which is the predominant criteria pollutant emitted from plowing. The PM 10 material typically settles close to its origin, the fields being plowed, and is not inhaled as deeply into the lungs as PM2.5.
So PM 10 usually poses less of a health risk than PM 2.5. Although to protect health, the district has a year-round Conservation Management Program that reduces PM 10 from agricultural operations, including plowing, by approximately 34.2 tons per day.
Q: Does The Californian have any plans to allow readers to post comments on its Web site using Facebook or Twitter accounts?Some news sites are now letting readers log-in to their sites using their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- Travis Anthony
A: Launching story commenting as well as Facebook/Twitter integration is high on our to-do list for early next year, said Logan Molen, the senior vice president and chief operating officer who oversees The Californian's online and mobile products.
We plan to implement so-called OpenID features that will allow you to use your Facebook and Twitter accounts -- as well as others like Yahoo, Google, MySpace and Windows Live -- to do things like comment on our stories and blogs or review local restaurants.
Another benefit of OpenID is those sign-in tools will make it easier for you to use all of our local websites, which currently number more than 12 (with more to come in 2010).
In the meantime, each of our news stories and blogs features “Share!” buttons that allow you to share interesting content via Facebook, Twitter or dozens of other social networks.
Ask The Californian appears on Mondays and Thursdays. Submit questions to asktbc@bakersfield.com or to The Bakersfield Californian, c/o Christine Bedell, P.O. Bin 440, Bakersfield, CA 93302.
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