Thousand Oaks Angers Simi by Opposing Road

Sunset Hills Boulevard in Thousand Oaks has always lived up to its bucolic name.

The four-lane thoroughfare, uncrowded by cars, climbs lazily into the hills west of California 23 and dead-ends at Avenida Amaranto.

But a 23-year-old General Plan, which calls for extending the road into neighboring Simi Valley, would change all that. And not for the better, Thousand Oaks officials say.

“The road is going to pour Simi Valley traffic into the heart of Thousand Oaks, which has no benefit for us,” Mayor Robert E. Lewis said. “This road really isn’t necessary.”

The news that Thousand Oaks wants to scrap the plans for the expressway between the two cities has taken Simi Valley officials by surprise. They say they will fight to keep the road on the books. The two-mile extension would wind past Bard Reservoir and connect with 1st Street near Simi Valley’s Wood Ranch development.

Now, only Olsen Road links the two communities, providing access to remote sections of Wood Ranch, where 2,000 homes have been built. About 4,000 residences are planned for the project.

Simi Valley has been concerned about access for police and emergency vehicles since a chlorine leak forced the shutdown of the Simi Valley and Moorpark freeways on Jan. 5, 1989, Mayor Greg Stratton said.

Wood Ranch residents were virtually shut out of their homes because roads were jammed with cars.

“For safety reasons, everyone would like to see another access road,” said Stratton, who lives in Wood Ranch.

Simi Valley has 45 days to respond to an environmental report released earlier this month that justified Thousand Oaks’ plans to eliminate the extension of Sunset Hills Boulevard. The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission is expected to review the report in October or November.

If the road is dropped, “I think we would have to take a look at all the options, including a lawsuit,” Stratton said.

Thousand Oaks commissioned the report anticipating a legal fight from Simi Valley.

“We have been advised by the city of Simi Valley that they intend to sue us,” Public Works Director John Clement said. “I doubt that this report will change that.”

Sunset Hills Boulevard now carries fewer than 7,000 cars a day, but up to 21,800 cars could be traveling on the boulevard in the year 2010 if the road is extended to Simi Valley.

In the report, Agoura Hills consultants Envicom Corp. said that eliminating the road would have a significant effect on existing roads in both cities.

Without the connection, traffic on six intersections in Simi Valley is projected to increase up to 60% by the year 2010. Every day, the corner of Madera Road and Royal Avenue would be jammed with 65,520 cars, 6,520 more than if the road were built.

Meanwhile, traffic at four intersections in Thousand Oaks would decline.

Stratton said he is concerned about the effect that eliminating the road would have on daily commuters.

Although no intersections now are heavily congested, if the extension is eliminated, his city’s streets would become jammed during peak commuter hours in the future, Stratton said.

With increased traffic, the city would have to make improvements on key intersections, he said.

“It’s going to have a ripple effect throughout all of Simi Valley,” he said. “The cars are going to go somewhere.”

Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks and Madera Road in Simi Valley would bear the brunt of the elimination of the Sunset Hills Boulevard extension, according to the environmental report.

Homeowners in some neighborhoods of Wood Ranch say their community is isolated and needs more, not fewer roads.

“I sympathize with the people who bought on Sunset Hills Boulevard. My concern is traffic too,” said Fred Roberts, president of The Fairways Community Assn., which represents 235 homeowners. “You have to go five miles out of your way to get to the 23 freeway.”

Thousand Oaks has little reason to extend the road because the city has grown slower than expected in the northern section of town, which includes the Lang Ranch, North Ranch, Wildwood and Sunset Hills developments, senior planner Larry Marquardt said.

Instead of an estimated population of 200,000, the city is projected to have only 135,000 people when all parts of the city are developed, he said.

Thousand Oaks residents who oppose the road say safety is a prime concern.

Gary Yomantas, president of the East Hills Homeowners Assn., said cars already whiz by at high speeds and residents in his neighborhood have difficulty making left turns onto the boulevard.

Homeowners in Yomantas’ 131-house development worry that the road will become the main commuter route for motorists using surface streets as a shortcut to their city, he said.

“We’ll oppose the road,” he said. “Anything that would add traffic to Sunset Hills Boulevard would be a problem in our eyes.”

Ironically, some Wood Ranch homeowners agree with Sunset Hills residents. They say they may side with Thousand Oaks residents such as Yomantas when the decision is made.

“We have two small children. With the increased traffic, that would increase the chance of something happening to them,” said Gary DeMas, who lives about half a mile west of Wood Ranch Parkway in Simi Valley.

“Here it’s quiet and there’s not a lot of traffic,” he said. “I would prefer not to have that increased traffic coming from or going into Thousand Oaks.”