Widening of California 23 Urged

Three local officials urged a state commission Tuesday to reconsider widening California 23, though the job is not on the state’s project list for the next six years.

A request for $15 million was made at a meeting of the California Transportation Commission in Los Angeles, said Ginger Gherardi, a spokeswoman for the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

“This long-planned freeway-widening project is an essential component of the planned economic and residential development of Moorpark,” said Moorpark City Councilman Bernardo Perez.

Perez testified before the state commission along with Thousand Oaks Mayor Michael Markey and Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo, Gherardi said. The commission was expected to decide by June whether to amend its list of projects through 2004, she said.

“The widening project will eliminate the most severely congested freeway in Ventura County,” said Schillo, a member of the county transportation panel.

California 23 is a four-lane route about 10 miles long that links Moorpark to the Ventura Freeway. It is a heavily traveled alternative for county commuters who take the road to the Ronald Reagan Freeway to reach Los Angeles.

The commission has already earmarked $24 million for the project, collected from state and federal sources, Gherardi said. A total of $39 million is needed, however, to widen the highway to three lanes in each direction, she said.

If additional funds do not come through, Gherardi said engineering and design work for widening California 23 would begin and the funding issue would be raised again in two years.