LA CONCHITA : Residents Request Ramps for Highway

Tired of risking their lives when they leave their homes, residents of La Conchita and Mussel Shoals are lobbying highway officials for a new interchange to replace left-turn lanes that require motorists to cross oncoming freeway traffic.

A new set of on- and off-ramps for the small seaside communities 10 miles north of Ventura would close the last remaining gap in the Ventura Freeway between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The three-mile stretch of roadway is now classified as an expressway and does not have controlled access.

About 60,000 cars a day speed past the unincorporated communities near the Santa Barbara County line.

Motorists traveling north must turn left in front of oncoming traffic to reach Mussel Shoals and the Cliff House hotel and restaurant. Southbound drivers must also cross traffic lanes when entering La Conchita.

“It’s like playing Russian roulette,” said Edward Kelly of Mussel Shoals about the hazardous crossings. “You never know if it’s loaded.”

Hank Alviani of La Conchita said local residents sometimes drive two miles out of their way to an existing off-ramp to avoid the dangerous freeway intersections. The turn at Mussel Shoals’ Ocean Avenue is especially risky because of limited visibility, he said. “The cars are coming around the corner at you, zipping around the curve like they’re at the Indy 500,” Alviani said.

Kelly and other residents have formed the Coalition of Rincon Advocates for a Safe Highway, or CRASH, to appeal to state Department of Transportation officials to build an interchange.

Traffic engineers have privately said a new interchange would cost as much as $15 million, Kelly said, but no official Caltrans estimate was available.

Because of cost constraints, Caltrans officials said they plan instead to build acceleration and deceleration lanes for Ocean Avenue at Mussel Shoals, which would cost less than $300,000. The lanes, which are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, are similar to those completed three years ago at La Conchita’s Santa Barbara Avenue.

“We would love to have an interchange there, but we’re short of funds, and the project is not high on the priority list of projects approved by the Ventura County Transportation Commission,” said Russ Snyder, a Caltrans spokesman.

The current list identifies 15 high-priority projects costing a combined $336 million that are scheduled to be completed over the next 25 years.

But residents say they want to put an end to the daily risk they face. “My grandkids will be driving soon,” said Kelly. “I hope they will have a safe highway to drive on by then.”