Q: Can you tell me what is going on with McKean Road? Several times in the last few weeks traffic going north toward Almaden Expressway has been almost bumper to bumper at about 7 a.m. It is impossible to exit my street onto McKean.

It is like Highway 101 has been closed and all northbound traffic is detoured to Bailey Road which ends at McKean. Then strangely the next day it is back to normal, only to return to a solid line traffic again the next day. What is causing this?

Bob Hughes

San Jose

A: Frustration, and maybe Waze. City folks say people are using this route to Almaden and possibly Camden Avenue and Blossom Hill Road as a cut through when there is a lot of traffic on highways 85 or 101. But a stop sign at Harry Road and a signal further down the road becomes a bottleneck when there is heavy northbound traffic on McKean.

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Q: What’s going on with The Alameda in the Rose Garden area? Construction has come to a screeching halt. No workers out there anymore, and the job isn’t finished. It’s very annoying.

Stefan Frazier

San Jose

A: Be patient. Work should end in March, but there is a lot going on to improve safety for pedestrians and vehicles and beautify the stretch between Fremont Street and Interstate 880. The city is modifying signals at Hedding and Taylor, adding a rapid flashing beacon at Emory, a new median with trees, curb ramps upgrades, bulb-outs, sidewalk and new streetlights.

Q: Vine Street in downtown San Jose was recently given a road diet where three lanes became two. Unfortunately, this made the intersection at Alma Avenue very confusing.

Before the left lane turned left, the middle lane went straight, and the right lane was for going straight or turning right. Now the left lane is for turning left or going straight.

The problem is that when going straight from either lane on Vine, it is very unclear which lane on the other side of Alma you should go into. Every day I see cars cutting each other off here.

Can the city paint dotted lines on the road to make the correct lanes obvious?

David Scott

San Jose

A: The striping contractor will install dashed yellow striping through the intersection to help align traffic. But crews are swamped with work, so the city will make a temporary fix until permanent striping can be installed.

Q: Your Thanksgiving column brought up a question. What is the maximum distance to drive a vehicle with an expired license and registration?

Gene del Pilar

A: Zero.

Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.