Schillo Proposes Scenic Drive Route

Hoping to boost the area’s tourism and business appeal, Supervisor Frank Schillo has proposed designating the seaside route from Ventura to the Los Angeles County line a coastal scenic drive.

The 31.2-mile route would begin at the Ventura County line on Pacific Coast Highway and pass through Port Hueneme and Oxnard before ending in Ventura. It would divert interested motorists from Pacific Coast Highway onto Hueneme Road and travel northwest onto Ventura Road and Channel Islands and Harbor boulevards before ending in downtown Ventura.

Six signs, costing $2,000 overall, would notify drivers along the way that they were taking an official scenic drive. Caltrans has also agreed to provide two green and white signs--one at the intersection of Main Street and the Ventura Freeway and another before the Hueneme Road exit on Pacific Coast Highway--that would let motorists know they were about to enter the route of a scenic drive.

The Greater Oxnard & Harbors Tourism Bureau has been working with various government agencies to come up with a scenic route to give the area greater appeal for tourism and business.

“The idea behind the scenic drive is to direct people off Route 1 and Highway 101 and keep them near the coast,” Schillo wrote in a report to his board colleagues. “Through this route, the visitor would see many highlights such as Mugu Rock, farm fields, the Port Hueneme Pier, the Seabee Museum, Channel Islands Harbor, Ventura Harbor, the San Buenaventura Mission, Mission Park and the Ventura County Museum of History and Art to name only a few.”