Ventura to Consider Trail Project Proposal

The Ventura City Council will consider a proposal Monday to spend no more than $316,000 for an engineering company to develop plans and cost estimates for the Ventura River Trail Project.

Boyle Engineering Corp. of Ventura was selected to come up with specifications for the trail, which would cover six miles of a former rail line between Ventura and Ojai.

The bike, hiking and horse trail is expected to cost about $2.5 million and would connect the Ojai Valley Trail at Foster Park to the Omer Rains Trail at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Escrow closed on the rail line last week, an action that allowed the city to take over the title from Southern Pacific Railroad. Buying the rail line cost $1 million, half of which was supplied by a federal grant.