Q. I am curious if you might know what is causing the liquid seepage on the 5 Freeway’s lanes near the north- and southbound shoulders at Beach Boulevard in Buena Park. It has been actively seeping from the walls on both sides for several months now. It smells like either old storm water or sewage. It can be wet and slippery. I saw a Caltrans group there weeks ago looking at the situation and then there was a “flooded” warning sign. No other work is being done as far as I know.
– Mike Newell, Huntington Beach
A. It can certainly puddle up a bit there.
After your question, Mike, Caltrans decided to take a closer look at the unique problem and went out to the 5 last week.
Officials determined there is not a safety concern or a traffic hazard on either side of the freeway, said Sheilah Fortenberry, a Caltrans spokeswoman.
“The water seeping from concrete barrier walls, retaining walls, and roadway pavement slabs is likely due to high groundwater levels,” she told Honk in an email. “To address this issue, a deeper investigation and mitigation measures are needed, including assessing groundwater conditions, and determining the cause of increasing levels.”
Caltrans intends to, among other things, look at historical records and check a nearby pumping station.
“There haven’t been any similar issues to this one on other state highway systems,” Fortenberry said. “There isn’t any dirt underneath the structure; the water table by nature is strong enough to seep through the wall(s) on its own.”
Honk asked Caltrans to keep him advised, so he can return to pass along the assessment and the solution.
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Q. I saw two cars with Permanent Fleet Registration stickers on their license plates today at a store, side by side. When did the program start? The Department of Motor Vehicles website says this program is for companies that have 50 or more cars with their company logo clearly marked on the sides. The two cars I saw were just plain-looking cars. No company details anywhere. Is this sticker available to the public? It would make registration as easy as click, pay, and done!
– Ray Villagracia, Lake Forest
A. This effort started off as a pilot program in 1979 and later became a permanent one. The vehicles get permanent registration stickers and cards.
“(It) is a convenient way for owners of large vehicle fleets to maintain their vehicle registrations,” Ron Ongtoaboc, a DMV spokesman, told Honk in an email. “Notifications are sent to fleet owners monthly listing the vehicles expiring that month, in place of annual, individual vehicle-registration renewal notices. …
“The (Permanent Fleet Registration) program saves time and streamlines the registration process for fleet owners and the DMV,” he said.
In 2017, lawmakers lowered the required fleet size to 25 and, Ongtoaboc said, “removed the requirement about the display of designated markings on fleet vehicles.”
The businesses pay the same registrations fees, Ray, that you and I would for a similar ride albeit the business does pay an extra buck per vehicle registration to cover processing.
Police officers seeing fleet-registration tags on plates — they look a bit different than standard ones — can run the plates to see if the registrations are current.
As of December, Ongtoaboc said, there were 76,039 vehicles assigned the fleet registrations.
HONKIN’ FACT: Government vehicles, such as police cruisers, have exempt plates — no registration fees required (Source: DMV).
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk