By Mary O’KEEFE

Waltonia Drive residents once again are dealing with battered vehicles after another drunk driver lost control and smashed into parked cars.
On Aug. 19 at 4:20 p.m. a Waltonia resident heard a crunching sound in front of her home.  According to the resident, her roommate was home when the accident in the 1900 block of Waltonia Drive occurred.  She went out to find the woman driver attempting to leave.
“A friend reached into the car and turned it off to stop her and called 911,” said the resident.
“The driver was traveling eastbound on Waltonia Drive.  She was [under the influence] of alcohol and prescription drugs,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Ming-Yang hsu.
The driver hit appeared to have drifted across the road and hit a parked car, forcing that car forward until it hit another parked car, hsu said.
This is the third accident involving a DUI driver in the
last seven months.  This does not include reported speeding and dangerous driving through the area. Waltonia Drive is a long, curved roadway that
many take as a shortcut from Foothill Boulevard to Montrose Avenue. Residents took their traffic complaints to the Crescenta Valley Town Council.  At
the July council meeting representatives from Los Angeles County Public Works Traffic and Lighting reviewed a plan to design to make the area safer.  Included were an island and crosswalk as well as several streetlights.
“There are still two pending pieces of that plan that we are [working on],” said CVTC Councilmember Steve Goldsworthy.
Streetlights and striping proposals are on the council’s website.  The public is invited to review the proposals and to comment.
“We are planning a door-to-door sweep in the area to let residents know about the plan,” Goldsworthy said.  That sweep is planned to happen within the next two weeks.
The Councilmember said he wanted to make certain everyone had a chance to weigh in on the proposals.
“There are three street light proposals; One at the intersection of Park Place and Waltonia, the second is for additional lights from Waltonia to the Foothill [210] freeway and the third is all the way to Ocean View Boulevard,” Goldsworthy said.
However no streetlights or new striping will do anything to deter people from driving drunk, Goldsworthy said.
“We are very aware of the [traffic issues] on Waltonia but [with the latest accident] speed was not an issue and it wasn’t night so lights would not have done anything,” Goldsworthy said.
He added law enforcement can help but the base problem still remains that drivers continue to get into their vehicle when they are intoxicated and drive illegally.
For information on the proposed street changes visit www.thecvcouncil.com.

  Crescenta, Waltonia