OJAI : It’s a Lonely Lot, but Face Lift May Help

A sea of asphalt surrounds Margaret Westrom’s car each day as it sits alone in Ojai’s new park-and-ride lot.

But the city plans to double the size of the parking lot to nearly 70 spaces and make it more attractive, using an $80,000 grant from Caltrans and $40,000 in municipal funds.

“Day in and out, I’m the only one there,” said Westrom, executive director of the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Downtown workers, merchants and shoppers avoid the free parking, despite complaints that parking spaces are scarce near the city’s core, Westrom said. They don’t park there because tree roots have buckled a walkway from the lot at 414 E. Ojai Ave. And, except for flagging down the passing trolley, commuters have no regular public transportation from the lot, she said.

Officials hope the lot will become a “park-and-walk” lot. There is no commuter service out of Ojai other than a South Coast Area Transit bus that runs several times daily from Ventura and back--but it stops at the post office, several blocks from the park-and-ride lot.

Ojai Public Works Director Stan Moore said more people will use the lot when improvements are made, but they are eight months behind schedule.

“We feel like it’s going to be a tremendous asset once it becomes complete,” he said.

Plans include taking down a chain-link fence around the lot and putting up signs along Ojai Avenue, directing motorists where to park.

A passenger shelter will allow people to wait for taxi service or regular bus and trolley stops. The lot also will be lighted at night, Moore said.

Bicycle racks will be put in, and a new sidewalk to Montgomery Street will be installed, Moore said.

The city Public Works Department is ready to do the work, but Caltrans is reluctant to approve a mid-block crosswalk across California 150, he said.

“We may have to forfeit the crosswalk to get the permit approved,” Moore said.

Meanwhile, Westrom said she will continue to park in the lot and encourage others to take advantage of its benefits. She walks the two blocks from her car to her office.

“I feel secure when it gets dark that I’m walking on Ojai Avenue instead of a back street,” she said. “And whenever buses come into our community with seniors, I always have them park down there because it’s safer to unload.”

But she admits one of her reasons for using the lot could end if it becomes more popular.

“The kids ride skateboards in the other municipal lot, and they use our cars as backstops,” she said. “In the park-and-ride lot I don’t get any nicks in my paint from skateboards or other car doors.”