Bridge Project Will Bring Traffic Detours

Demolition and reconstruction of the Mission Oaks Boulevard bridge over the Calleguas Creek arroyo will begin today.

The goal is to create a larger and safer bridge, but traffic will be detoured for about six months.

During construction, Mission Oaks Boulevard between Flynn Road and Rancho Calleguas Drive will be closed. Traffic will be rerouted from Mission Oaks Boulevard at Flynn Road to Adolfo Road.

The $3-million project, which is jointly funded by Camarillo, the Federal Highway Administration and local developers, includes new Ventura Freeway ramps at Flynn Road, a new bridge over the Calleguas Creek arroyo and widening of Mission Oaks Boulevard between Flynn and Rancho Calleguas to four lanes.

The bridge is being replaced for several reasons, including that it is too small for the channel it crosses.

“There’s more water coming down the channel than can go through the bridge, so it blocks the flow,” said Dan Greeley, director of the city’s engineering services. “So it needs to be longer and taller.

“It’s also on a very old roadway alignment that creates a very sharp turn on one side of the bridge. We want to make it a much smoother curb, making it safer, which means the bridge needs to be relocated.”

The new bridge will not only be safer and reduce flood hazard conditions in the channel, it will also alleviate traffic congestion, he said.

“The current bridge is only two lanes and we need to widen it, because the roadway approaching it is four lanes,” Greeley said.

Security Paving of Sun Valley is the construction contractor on the project.