2 County Sites to Receive Face Lift : Beautification: State agency approves funds to landscape entrance to Newbury Park and restore historic train depot near Simi Valley.

A Thousand Oaks neighborhood looking for a face lift and a run-down train depot near Simi Valley got a $400,000 boost Thursday from a state transportation agency.

Plans to landscape the main entrance to Newbury Park and restore the historic depot in Santa Susana Knolls were among more than 150 beautification projects around the state approved by the California Transportation Commission.

“There are hundreds of projects all over the state competing for these funds, so we were very lucky to get both projects approved,” said Ginger Gherardi, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission. The funding will be split equally between the two projects.

The commission also agreed to spend $255,000 to strengthen two bridges in Saticoy against earthquakes, and to install a $1-million safety median barrier on a three-mile stretch of the Ventura Freeway from La Conchita to the Rincon Point under-crossing.

Rick Johnson, spokesman for the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, said the state money would cover about half the cost of renovating the Santa Susana Historic Railroad Depot.

The 90-year-old building, situated east of Simi Valley, is now boarded up. The park district hopes to renovate it and open it for tours, Johnson said.

“This funding will be a big help,” he said. “The goal is to show people how we got around before cars were as common as they are now.”

The city of Thousand Oaks will use its share of the funding to spruce up the entrance to Newbury Park at Borchard Road and Michael Drive near the Ventura Freeway.

Plans include landscaping, irrigation and monument signs for the southeast and southwest corners of the intersection.

“Right now, it looks kind of barren, especially in the winter,” City Councilman Frank Schillo said. “So we’re thrilled with the chance to really make some improvements.”

The commission also agreed to retrofit the bridge at the Santa Paula Freeway and California 118 in Saticoy, and the Saticoy Avenue over-crossing on the Santa Paula Freeway.

The state Department of Transportation recently built a two-lane bridge that carries northbound traffic on California 118 over the Santa Paula Freeway. The retrofitting will be conducted on a 30-year-old companion bridge that carries southbound traffic, Caltrans construction engineer Robert Joe said.

Retrofitting often involves digging around the footing of a bridge, wrapping it with steel and concrete, and hooking cables to bridge decks to keep them from caving in during quakes.

Retrofitting of the two bridges comes after approval early in March of similar work on 45 bridges throughout the county. The work is expected to completed by the end of 1995.

As part of its continuing road safety program, the commission has also agreed to pay for installation of a $1-million, 18-inch steel median on the Ventura Freeway from Ocean Avenue in La Conchita to the under-crossing at Rincon Point.

“There is no barrier there at all now, just a vacant median,” Joe said. “The new median will provide a barrier to keep cars and trucks from crossing over in the wrong direction.”