OJAI : Council to Discuss Proposed Walkway

The Ojai City Council tonight will discuss a revised plan to build a pedestrian and bicycle path connecting the unincorporated area of Meiners Oaks with Ojai.

The walkway would wind through the Arbolada, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, on Cuyama, Sierra and El Paseo roads.

The proposed path has been a source of controversy since February.

At tonight’s meeting, city officials will present a series of alterations to the proposed route, City Manager Andrew Belknap said.

Revisions include keeping the path on the south side of Cuyama Road, covering it with crushed granite rather than asphalt and rerouting it south of the Del Norte Road intersection to stay clear of the Arbolada, Belknap said.

When the walkway was proposed, residents said they were not properly consulted about what they called an unnecessary change in the neighborhood.

“We are trying to respond to the concerns they had about the neighborhood, and the incompatibility of this type of walkway in the area,” Belknap said.

Another group, however, which includes parents of students at Matilija Junior High School and Nordhoff High School and members of the Ojai Unified School District board, has strongly supported the project.

Proponents say the path would improve safety conditions for children walking or biking to school.