MOORPARK : Council Raises Speed Limit on High Street

Motorists will soon be able to press a little harder on their gas pedals when driving down High Street in Moorpark.

Bowing to complaints by local merchants and residents, the Moorpark City Council this week unanimously approved increasing the speed limit on the historic avenue from 25 to 30 m.p.h.

One year ago, city officials lowered the speed limit on the street from 35 to 25 m.p.h. because of concerns about pedestrian safety. Patrons of the street’s small stores and restaurants regularly jaywalk because the only traffic lights are at either end of the five-block road.

But High Street merchants and residents complained to city officials late last year that Ventura County sheriff’s deputies had made the street into a speed trap since the limit was lowered.

According to Sheriff’s Department figures, deputies nearly doubled the average number of speeding tickets they issued each month on the street following the change. In response to complaints, a city engineer surveyed vehicle and pedestrian traffic on High Street on Feb. 1. Of the 119 vehicles that passed along the street during the survey, all but six exceeded the 25 m.p.h. limit, a staff report showed.

The engineer also determined that there wasn’t enough pedestrian traffic on the street to justify the lower speed limit, according to the report.