Buena Vista Street

Residents are being evacuated after crews hit a gas line in Burbank Tuesday afternoon, police said. The incident occurred in the 1500 block of Buena Vista Street around 4 p.m., said Burbank police Sgt. Scott Meadows.  Residents who live between Kittridge Street and Victory Boulevard on Buena Vista were taken to a Fresh and Easy parking lot, according to police. Buena Vista remains shut down between those two streets, said Meadows. [UPDATE 7:50 p.m.] Officials estimate the street will reopen around midnight.

WEST BURBANK — Residents should expect delays until early August as crews tear up a roughly one-mile section of Buena Vista Street, city officials warned this week. The construction, stretching from Jeffries Avenue to the alley south of San Fernando Boulevard, is in the final phase of the $824,000 project. The money — $600,000 from city redevelopment funds, the rest from state gasoline-tax revenue — was allocated to repair what is considered among the worst roads in Burbank.

It was sad to see the aftermath of a MetroLink train collision with a truck at Buena Vista Street and San Fernando Boulevard here in Burbank. My heart goes out to the truck driver's family. I have to say that intersection is one of the most dangerous in Burbank. It's very confusing for drivers, and the stoplights there hold up traffic for so long that people get very impatient. I believe there needs to be an underpass for traffic traveling down Buena Vista Street in order to avoid crossing the train tracks altogether.

CITY HALL — The City Council on Tuesday is expected to approve a pair of resolutions authorizing agreements with the state to fund construction of federal stimulus projects along Magnolia Boulevard and Buena Vista Street. The city’s share of the $2.57 billion in federal stimulus money dedicated to state highway transportation projects is $3.2 million. Burbank applied for funding on four transportation projects, including traffic signal communications and upgrades to four fixed-time signals on Magnolia Boulevard; sidewalk safety enhancements and installation of pedestrian ramps in southeastern stretches of the city; highway-grade crossing improvements across Buena Vista Street at Vanowen Street enabling a “quiet zone” and highway improvements to Buena Vista Street between San Fernando Boulevard; and the northbound on-ramp to the Golden State (5)

Ryan Carter Work on a fiber-optic line accidentally punctured a natural gas line below the corner of Buena Vista Street and Burbank Boulevard on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of nearby businesses and homes. The pressure from the rupture caused gas and dust to spew up like a geyser out of a hole officials cut into Buena Vista Street, just north of Burbank Boulevard near Conroy's Flowers. Workers were laying fiber-optic line and running a drill near a 12-inch-diameter supply line about 11:30 a.m. when they accidentally punctured the line, Gas Company District Manager Anthony P. Tartaglia said.

Gretchen Hoffman Monday's deadly MetroLink accident wasn't the first to hit the tracks that stretch through Glendale and Burbank. There have been more than 35 collisions between trains and cars or trucks in the two cities since 1976, according to the Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Safety Analysis. At least nine of them took place at or near the crossing where truck driver Jacek W. Wysocki was killed in the Monday accident at Buena Vista Street and San Fernando Boulevard.

MEDIA DISTRICT — A 63-year-old transient man was arrested Tuesday for driving under the influence after his motor home sideswiped at least four cars, causing one to flip onto its side near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Buena Vista Street, authorities said. Leonid Sokolsky, a transient who lives in his motor home, was navigating a wide right-hand turn onto northbound Buena Vista Street from Riverside Drive at about 8:30 p.m. when he clipped a southbound vehicle, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said.

The following were taken from reports filed at the Burbank Police Department:    2900 Block of Buena Vista Street: A Burbank woman reported that someone stole her son’s Nintendo DS, valued at $140, from the back of her unlocked, parked car on Tuesday.  2600 Block of Victory Boulevard : A Burbank man was arrested on suspicion of punching a woman during an altercation Tuesday in a parking lot.  90 Block of Verdugo Avenue : A Tujunga man was arrested on suspicion of two outstanding warrants after being stopped for a traffic violation on Tuesday.

Train crash rhetoric led by 'weasel words' Since the recent collision between the MetroLink train and a truck at Buena Vista Street and San Fernando Road, I have read several comments and letters in the Leader and elsewhere about how "dangerous" that intersection is. Excuse me? It's only dangerous if drivers and pedestrians fail to observe the signals, bells, gates and the hooting of the trains themselves. They also apparently fail to use common sense, or decide that their priorities come before the needs of the rest of the world.

Burbank police are warning motorists to expect delays in the area of Vanowen and Buena Vista streets on Wednesday and Thursday. Signals at the intersection will be completely down while crews relocate them, so traffic will be controlled by posted stop signs and flaggers. Police advised motorists to avoid the area. --Jason Wells, Times Community News Follow Jason Well s on Facebook , Google+ and on Twitter: @JasonBretWells.  

Residents are being evacuated after crews hit a gas line in Burbank Tuesday afternoon, police said. The incident occurred in the 1500 block of Buena Vista Street around 4 p.m., said Burbank police Sgt. Scott Meadows.  Residents who live between Kittridge Street and Victory Boulevard on Buena Vista were taken to a Fresh and Easy parking lot, according to police. Buena Vista remains shut down between those two streets, said Meadows. [UPDATE 7:50 p.m.] Officials estimate the street will reopen around midnight.

As several residents oppose construction of a Taco Bell at the intersection of Buena Vista Street and Burbank Boulevard because of the number of accidents there, new traffic figures indicate the problem may be worse than first thought. Earlier this year, Burbank officials looked at traffic-collision rates along Buena Vista from the beginning of 2006 to mid-2010 and found 20 accidents at the intersection with Burbank Boulevard, making it the second-most accident-prone intersection along Buena Vista.

I live in Burbank near Buena Vista Street and Burbank Boulevard, where there is a proposed Taco Bell to take over the old Conroy's Flower shop (“Taco Bell plan cooks up resistance,” Aug. 20). There is a letter being circulated by a guy who does to want the Taco Bell built because of extra traffic. I love Taco Bell. My four kids, ages 15 to 23, eat there a lot. I'm thrilled that a new Taco Bell will be just a few blocks away. I don't think traffic will be a problem. It's not a problem at Magnolia and Buena Vista now. I did not have time to go to any hearings - just wanted to give a shout out to Taco Bell.

Plans to open a 24-hour Taco Bell restaurant at one of the most dangerous intersections on Buena Vista Street have nearby residents fuming. Taco Bell plans to demolish a building that once housed Conroy's Flowers at the intersection of Buena Vista and Burbank Boulevard to make way for a new restaurant that would have a drive-through, a dining room and onsite parking. Burbank Traffic Engineer Ken Johnson looked at accident rates at major intersections along Buena Vista from the beginning of 2006 to mid-2010.

WEST BURBANK — Residents should expect delays until early August as crews tear up a roughly one-mile section of Buena Vista Street, city officials warned this week. The construction, stretching from Jeffries Avenue to the alley south of San Fernando Boulevard, is in the final phase of the $824,000 project. The money — $600,000 from city redevelopment funds, the rest from state gasoline-tax revenue — was allocated to repair what is considered among the worst roads in Burbank.

Now that I?ve become a renowned journalist (insert smiley face here) people keep coming up to me with ideas for my column. Bill really thinks I should look into the horrible state of repair many of our streets are falling into, especially Buena Vista Street between Riverside Drive and Alameda Avenue. He?s heard from a city worker that they have a backlog to keep them busy for many decades. Sort of makes you wonder where the heck all our tax money is going, doesn?t it? Lisa and Mary both asked me what I thought about the new configuration of Verdugo Avenue.

The following were taken from daily booking reports from the Burbank Police Department.   AREA 1   Buena Vista Street and Burbank Boulevard Officers arrested Stephen Krikorian, 23, of Burbank, after he allegedly assaulted a 21-year-old man with a bottle outside a 7-Eleven market. Krikorian and an unknown man approached the victim and claimed gang affiliation before the attack, police said. The other suspect is described as a Latino man between the ages of 20 and 23, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 150 pounds.

Marshals arrest robbery suspects A newly formed U.S. Marshal?s Fugitive Apprehension Task Force on Thursday arrested a 27-year-old Rosemead man and his passenger in connection with a home-invasion robbery last month in the 400 block of Gibson Court, authorities said. Kevin Joseph Castaneda is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at the Los Angeles County Twin Towers Jail on charges of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and felony evading. Passenger Glen Ramirez, a 32-year-old El Monte man, was also charged with robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and evading officers and is being held without bail at the downtown facility, Burbank Police Lt. John Dilibert said.