VENTURA : Freeway Bridge Back on Agenda

For the second time in two months, the Ventura City Council tonight will consider approving a pedestrian overpass above the Santa Paula Freeway.

Although developers would pay most of the $1-million cost, nearby residents are opposed to the overcrossing because they say it would promote crime in their quiet, mid-Ventura neighborhood.

A vocal group of homeowners protested in May when the City Council approved the project, which would allow pedestrians to cross the Santa Paula Freeway to and from Citadel Avenue, just east of Camino Real Park.

The bridge would lead to vacant land on the south side of the freeway that has already been approved for housing.

Most of the residents said the plan should be scrapped. At least, they told the council, the bridge should lead into the park.

But police officials and other city staff members recommend that the bridge cross the freeway east of the park because officers would not have access to deep corners of the park and potential criminals could escape on foot.

Two other footbridges have been built over the freeway closer to Santa Paula. Police officials said there is no evidence that the overcrossings lead to more crime in those neighborhoods.

Last month, the residents persuaded Mayor Tom Buford to place the project on tonight’s agenda, to give council members a chance to rethink their initial approval.