MOORPARK : Plan to Change Street Name Rejected

Responding to complaints by local residents and business people, Moorpark City Council members have changed their minds about renaming a major thoroughfare.

The council voted unanimously last week against changing the name of Los Angeles Avenue to High Street.

At a meeting in February, council members supported the name change to reduce confusion to motorists along the Moorpark-Simi Valley Freeway Connector, which is scheduled to be completed next year.

The connector will have exit ramps onto New Los Angeles Avenue, Los Angeles Avenue heading west and Los Angeles Avenue heading east.

“When the freeway is complete, we will have three Los Angeles Avenue exits in this city,” Councilman John Wozniak said.

Wozniak and Councilman Scott Montgomery had proposed changing the name of the section of Los Angeles Avenue west of Spring Road to High Street, which now extends east from Spring.

But at Wednesday’s meeting, the council eventually agreed only to ask the California Department of Transportation not to list Los Angeles Avenue on all three exit signs from the freeway connector.

City officials will suggest that the exit ramp onto Los Angeles Avenue heading west and Los Angeles Avenue heading east have signs naming nearby cross streets.

Former Mayor Eloise Brown was one of the residents speaking against the proposed name change. “Most of the general public is bright enough to find their way along the freeway,” she said.

Renaming Los Angeles Avenue would compromise the character of the existing High Street, a four-block historic avenue lined with small shops and businesses, Brown said.

Los Angeles Avenue, which is home to two cement plants, an industrial park and a number of residences, has a very different character, she said.