VENTURA : Part of Poli Street to Remain Closed

Ventura hillside residents say they will push ahead with their drive to reopen Poli Street, even though the City Council has voted to keep a section of the road closed during daytime hours for the foreseeable future.

Students, teachers and administrators have lobbied for years to close the stretch of Poli that bisects the Ventura High School campus, warning city officials that the traffic could lead to anything from pedestrian injuries to drive-by shootings. In August, the City Council agreed and blocked off Poli during school hours.

But frustrated hillside residents say the school should be responsible for its own safety. By closing a swatch of the road, they say, the city moves traffic from a street equipped to handle it to their narrow, winding roads.

Monday night, the school coalition won again.

“It’s so political,” grumbled Hugh Oliver, a member of Concerned Citizens of Ventura, the residents group formed to fight the closure and push an initiative that would nullify the council’s actions.

Jack Biller, another member of the group, vowed that this would not be the last time the city dealt with Poli Street.

“We’ve taken some blows before, and we’re still plugging along full blast,” he said.

In addition to voting to keep Poli Street closed, council members rejected speed humps for nearby streets; voted to install breakaway chains as barriers on nearby Palomar Avenue and Sunset Drive, also closed to through traffic during school hours, to alleviate concerns about vehicles being unable to pass through in emergencies, and voted to encourage the school to look into redesigning or relocating the campus as a long-term solution to the problem.

The vote on the Poli Street issue was 5 to 2. Councilman Jack Tingstrom opposed it because he wanted the council to order further study. Councilman Jim Monahan opposed it, saying he’d like the council to impose a time limit on the action.