Caltrans Unveils Plan to Extend Simi Freeway

Caltrans has unveiled a plan to extend the Simi Valley Freeway through Moorpark, splitting a planned housing development in half and cutting off an older neighborhood from the rest of town.

The highway extension, which would separate north Moorpark from the city’s south side, may not be built for another 20 years. However, California Department of Transportation engineers said they have already mapped out the plan to identify where the road could be located.

“Maybe we won’t do anything for 20 years,” said Sohan Basra, the Caltrans transportation engineer working on the project. “But we have to protect our right of way before we are able to move ahead on anything.”

The plan, unveiled Wednesday at the Moorpark City Council meeting, calls for extending the Simi Valley Freeway west from the recently completed connector with the Moorpark Freeway. The extension would run in a straight line through Moorpark, north of Casey Road, and turn south slightly after Gabbert Road and link up with Los Angeles Avenue near Butter Creek Road on the west end of the city.

The highway will divide a proposed 640-unit housing development being planned by the Levy Co. for 240 acres north of Poindexter Avenue. The proposed route would also go through a residential neighborhood along Walnut Canyon Road.

“What’s this going to do to property values?” asked Bob Crockford, who lives on Walnut Canyon Road north of the area where the highway would cross. “If it was my house down there I would be worried. These things have a way of being set in concrete early on, so people better do something now if they don’t like what they see.”

Other residents living on the north side of town want Caltrans to consider moving the road farther north and avoid cutting through the city.

“They should be looking at other options,” said James Hartley, who also lives in north Moorpark near Gabbert Road. “It’s like they simply drew a straight line and they then locked into the idea of splitting the community in half.”

One of the more dramatic design features of the proposed highway is a giant cloverleaf interchange between the Moorpark Freeway and the Simi Valley Freeway extension.

“That’s one thing that concerns me a lot about this plan,” said Moorpark City Councilman John Wozniak. “You’d be able to see that cloverleaf from all over the city.” Wozniak said he would like Caltrans to provide a range of alternative designs to connect the freeways. He is also asking local residents to look at Caltrans’ design maps and make their concerns known to the City Council as soon as possible.

“Of course it’s early in the process,” Wozniak said. “This might be 30 years down the line. I don’t even know why they’re spending money on this right now. There are plenty of other projects in the county that would seem much more urgent, but if they’re asking for comments now we better put our two cents in or risk not getting a second chance.”

Ginger Gherardi, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, said the planned highway extension is not on the list of the top 15 highway projects planned through the year 2023.

In addition, Caltrans has not done cost estimates on the project or traffic demand surveys to determine if the extension is even needed.

“We definitely don’t have the money right now,” Basra said. “And we don’t know if the traffic demands for the area will justify building the highway. That’s what we will determine over the next couple of years.”

FYI

Maps of Caltrans’ proposed extension of the Simi Valley Freeway are on display in the City Council chambers at Moorpark City Hall, 799 Moorpark Ave. For more information, call 529-6864.