2 Cities to Delay Suit Over Road Extension : Traffic: Simi Valley seeks $2 million if Thousand Oaks refuses to extend Sunset Hills. A traffic study is under way.

The mayors of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks have agreed to put on hold a lawsuit over the proposed extension of Sunset Hills Boulevard while a new traffic study is conducted, city officials said.

Ventura County Superior County Judge John J. Hunter on Thursday approved a postponement of the trial, in which Simi Valley is seeking $2 million for street improvements if Thousand Oaks refuses to extend Sunset Hills, eliminating a future link between the cities.

Hunter’s decision was based on an agreement reached Monday between Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton and Thousand Oaks Mayor Judy Lazar. Previously, the judge was slated to begin hearing the case in early October.

Stratton and Lazar agreed to halt the court proceeding until after the long-awaited link between the Simi Valley and Moorpark freeways opens, tentatively in mid-October.

A month after the connector opens, Simi Valley will conduct a traffic study to determine how many cars have switched from surface streets to the freeways. This study is expected to help the cities decide whether the Sunset Hills extension is needed.

Stratton said if the results of the new study show that sufficient numbers of motorists will take the freeways, “then the lawsuit is moot, and we would dismiss it.”

Both cities hired outside attorneys to handle the lawsuit, running up thousands of dollars in legal bills. Putting the court case on hold will save money, Stratton said.

“We’re really pleased we were able to get it resolved,” Simi Valley’s mayor said. “We were gearing up for a big trial in October.”

If the cities cannot settle their dispute after the new traffic study is conducted, Simi Valley can still pursue the court case, officials said.

Lazar could not be reached for comment Thursday.

But Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo, who has followed the case closely, believes the matter will never go back to court.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a conflict that’s going to resurface,” Schillo said. “The problem is going to be relieved when the (freeway) connector is open. Then their lawsuit should go away.”

Simi Valley filed the suit last year after Thousand Oaks deleted from its General Plan a two-mile extension of Sunset Hills Boulevard past Bard Reservoir, linking with 1st Street near Simi Valley’s Wood Ranch community.

This would have created a second connection between the cities, which are now joined only by Olsen Road.

Simi Valley leaders argued that this second outlet was needed to relieve growing traffic congestion in the western part of the city and to provide a much-needed emergency access route.

Also, Simi Valley council members said that in approving new development, they counted on the future extension of Sunset Hills.

But Thousand Oaks leaders said the proposed extension would destroy environmentally sensitive hills and greatly increase traffic in the neighborhoods near Sunset Hills Boulevard.

“We had no plans for that road,” Schillo said Thursday. “If (Simi Valley leaders) just relied on some map they got, that’s not good planning.”

If enough drivers use the new freeway link instead of Madera and Tierra Rejada roads in Simi Valley, then the Sunset Hills extension may not be needed, officials in the two cities said.

But if traffic congestion persists on those streets after the freeway connector opens, Simi Valley will continue to press Thousand Oaks to pay the cost of improving existing Simi Valley roads, Stratton said.