Acquisition of Rail Line to Be Considered : Transportation: A portion of a $5.5-million windfall may finance purchase of a Ventura-Piru right of way for a bike and hiking trail.

Ventura County transportation leaders on Friday will consider spending part of an unexpected $5.5-million windfall to help acquire an old rail line that runs between Ventura and Piru.

The Ventura County Transportation Commission, which doled out $9.3 million in federal Surface Transportation Program funds to 14 projects across the county in July, recently learned that it will receive another $5.1 million in federal dollars.

In addition, the city of Ojai announced that it will make available $394,000 in federal money that it cannot immediately use to build a new bicycle and equestrian trail, as originally planned.

The Transportation Commission staff, which received many more requests for federal money than it could fulfill, has urged the panel to spend the extra money on eight additional projects. They include the purchase of a rail line, widening of a heavily used freeway interchange in Thousand Oaks and improving several busy intersections in Simi Valley.

“It was definitely a pleasant surprise,” said Frank Schillo, chairman of the commission. “We thought there might be additional funding, but we had no idea how much it would be.”

The July allocations were based on a federal funding estimate provided by the Southern California Assn. of Governments. The regional group later acknowledged that its first estimate of available federal funds was too low, Ventura County officials said.

“It’s always easier to tell an agency that you underestimated the funding than to tell them you overestimated and have to ask for money back,” said Chris Stephens, a Transportation Commission staff member.

The staff has urged the commission to use the largest share of the extra federal funds--$3.2 million--to coordinate with the cities of Ventura, Santa Paula and Fillmore to buy a 32-mile Southern Pacific Transportation Co. rail corridor that runs through these cities.

This money would be combined with $500,000 that the commission previously gave to Ventura to buy a portion of the route for a bicycle and hiking trail.

In addition, the California Transportation Commission recently allocated $3.5 million to the cities and the Ventura County commission for this project.

Finally, the cities of Ventura and Santa Paula are expected to provide another $500,000 each. Fillmore has already bought a portion of the rail route that runs through its city.

With the combined $8.2 million from federal, state and local sources, transportation officials hope to buy the deteriorating century-old rail corridor from Southern Pacific and use it for recreation and public transit.

Ultimately, transportation officials hope to see trains running between Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita and the beaches of Ventura.

Santa Paula City Administrator Arnold Dowdy said he hopes the railroad will accept the offer in the coming months. “There are not a whole lot of people actively in the market for railroad lines,” he said. “We might be their only customer.”

When the commission allocated its federal dollars in July, some east county leaders complained that their area had been shortchanged.

To address this concern, the commission staff has urged that much of the remaining new money be used for east county road projects.

If its proposal is approved, Thousand Oaks will receive $1.2 million for street and ramp widening at the heavily used Hampshire Road ramps on the Ventura Freeway. Commission Chairman Schillo, a Thousand Oaks councilman, strongly supports this idea.

“We had no idea where we would get the money for the Hampshire Road improvements until this opportunity came about,” he said.

The commission staff has also proposed that Simi Valley receive $349,000 to upgrade the intersection of Los Angeles Avenue and 1st Street and $545,000 to improve Cochran Street at Sycamore Drive.

In addition, the staff has recommended that Simi Valley get $180,000 to install a traffic light at the driveway to its busy Metrolink station parking lot on Los Angeles Avenue near Stearns Street.

The commission staff has also urged that $200,000 be used to upgrade the intersection of California 118 and Somis Road, just west of Moorpark.

Besides the windfall in federal dollars, the commission on Friday will also decide how to spend $3 million that was not earmarked for a specific project during the July meeting. Staff has proposed that the money be used to straighten portions of Moorpark Road, which has several sharp, hazardous turns between Moorpark and Thousand Oaks.

Ojai has opted to release $394,000 of the $635,000 the city was allocated in July to build the new Meiners Oaks Trail for bicyclists, pedestrians and horse riders.

The project drew criticism from some landowners near the proposed trail, and city leaders are still trying to determine the best and least intrusive route, said Dan Singer, an administrative assistant with the city.

Ojai has asked to retain $75,000 for design work on the Meiners Oaks Trail and $166,000 for an extension of the existing Ojai Valley Trail.

Transportation Funding List Revised use of federal funds by the Ventura County Transportation Commission

Funding To Be Dropped Meiners Oaks Bike Trail: $561,000

Ventura River Bike Trail: $500,000*

Traffic signal at Tierra Rejada/Moorpark Roads: $180,000

New Projects To Receive Funding Moorpark Road improvements: $3,058,000

Santa Paula rail line acquisition: $3,700,000

Simi Valley Metrolink station traffic signal: $180,000

Improve California 118/California 34 intersection: $200,000

Improve Ventura Freeway/Hampshire Road interchange: $1,240,000

Improve Los Angeles Avenue/1st Street intersection: $349,000

Improve Sycamore Drive/Cochran Street intersection: $545,000

Ojai Valley Bike Trail Extension: $166,380

* This money has been added to funds set aside for Santa Paula rail line acquisition.

Source: Ventura County Transportation Commission