Supervisors Support Scenic Route Plan

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors has conceptually approved a plan to designate the coastal route from the county line to Ventura a scenic drive.

Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to pursue the plan, which was recommended by Supervisor Frank Schillo as a way to boost the area’s tourist and business appeal.

The proposal is expected to go before the board later this month as part of a larger discussion on road sign standards in unincorporated areas.

The cities of Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ventura also would have to approve the scenic road plan.

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

Six signs, costing a maximum of $2,000 overall, would mark the scenic drive. The California Department of Transportation also has agreed to provide two green-and-white signs--one at Main Street and the Ventura Freeway and another before the Hueneme Road exit on Pacific Coast Highway--to designate the route.

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 tourism and business appeal.

“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 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.”