L.A. City Councilmember Tom LaBonge and transportation officials meet at the Caltrans Buidling in Downtown L.A. to mark the anniversary of the SigAlert.
Light rains did their best to snarl traffic this morning in downtown Los Angeles as L.A. City Councilmember Tom LaBonge and several transportation officials marked the anniversary of what is now known as the “SigAlert” traffic report.
It was Jan. 22, 1955, when the first “SigAlert” radio broadcast was aired in Los Angeles in recognition of the growing amount of car traffic on the region. The SigAlert has since become a standard part of radio and television traffic coverage for auto congestion that closes down traffic lanes for a half hour or more.
SigAlert, named after station executive Lloyd Sigmon, were originally transmitted by police dispatchers. It is now issued by the California Highway Patrol.
These days more and more motorists can turn to the Internet or their smart phones to receive up-to-date driving conditions. Sigalert.com graphically shows traffic trouble spots on a map of the regional freeway system. The Go511.com web site also has a map of live freeway traffic, and Caltrans recently added a service called Quickmap on its web site showing roadway conditions.
Categories: Service Alerts
As “The Dude Abides”, probably knows full well, Sigalerts are for -unplanned- lane closures that will take 1/2 hour or more to clear. These are generally caused by accidents. Most accidents can’t be solved ahead of time.
Instead of celebrating the sig alert, after all reading the tea leaves in a ceramic cup will tell you there is traffic in LA, how about solving some of those traffic issues.