CAMARILLO : City to Build Lot for Park-and-Ride Users

The Camarillo City Council has decided to build a new park-and-ride lot to encourage commuters not to park on residential streets adjacent to the Ventura Freeway.

The council on Wednesday approved using up to $150,000 in state funds to build a 100-space commuter parking lot at the southeast corner of Pleasant Valley Road and the Ventura Freeway.

The park-and-ride lot, expected to be completed by June, will be the second in Camarillo, said Sonny Murillo, a city project engineer.

Residents use park-and-ride lots as a place to park and meet people with whom they car-pool to work, or to meet the vans that some Los Angeles companies send to pick up employees, said traffic engineer Tom Fox.

The existing commuter-parking lot at Las Posas Road and the Ventura Freeway has about 120 spaces and mainly serves residents from western and central Camarillo, Fox said.

The new park-and-ride lot will serve commuters from eastern Camarillo, most of whom are traveling to Los Angeles and don’t want to backtrack to Las Posas Road, he said.

“They’re already using local streets to park on,” he said.

Residents of the Woodside Greens neighborhood south of the Ventura Freeway have complained that commuters are leaving their cars during the day on Ridge View Street, he said.

City officials hope these commuters will park instead at the new lot.