VENTURA : County to Push for Road Improvement
Alarmed by a series of deadly accidents, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors will lobby Caltrans to improve safety along the stretch of California 126 known as “Blood Alley.”
At the urging of Supervisor Maggie Kildee, the board agreed Tuesday to send a letter to the California Department of Transportation, pressing for construction of a concrete center divider.
State transportation officials have resisted the measure in the past because many residents, businesses and farmers in the area need to cross the thoroughfare and because the highway is in the midst of a widening project.
“It does seem there are some particular lengths of the highway where the safety of the people using it may need to be foremost,” Kildee said. “Over and over again, people cross over that center line and are hit head-on in the opposing lane.”
The curving highway that runs between Ventura and the Los Angeles County line has become notorious for dozens of fatal or serious crashes over the years, most near Piru and Fillmore. The most recent accident occurred Sunday near Fish Hatchery Road when two men were killed and three other people injured in a head-on collision.
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