FILLMORE : Traffic Rise Prompts Highway Use Study

Concerned about a sharp rise in traffic along California 126, the Fillmore City Council has authorized a $45,000 traffic study of the portion of the highway that passes through the city.

According to a city staff report, traffic on the highway near A Street increased from an average of 17,000 daily trips in April, 1988, to about 25,000 trips in May, 1989.

City Manager Roy Payne said Fillmore must differentiate between locally generated and “pass-through” traffic to better determine whether future development is a good idea.

Payne said pollution caused by local traffic was considered to be within the limits set by state and county standards, but increased use of California 126 would affect the overall picture.

The study, which the city hopes to complete in four months, will serve as a necessary part of environmental analysis required by the city’s proposed development of the North Fillmore Industrial Park. It will also speed decisions on future residential developments and on commercial uses proposed along the highway.

Solutions for congestion problems along the highway could include improvements at intersections or increasing the number of signals on California 126 as it passes through the city, Payne said.

Because the city has no control over the amount of traffic originating outside the city limits, the study may indicate problems that cannot be mitigated, Payne said. Although this would not necessarily call a halt to growth in Fillmore, the city would have to address traffic and air quality issues, and “development could be affected,” Payne said.