Road Plan Comes at Too Steep a Cost, Report Says

Opponents of a planned street project say they feel vindicated by a consultant’s report backing their belief that the road would be dangerous--but they still plan to press their case this week at City Hall.

Residents near the planned extension of Borchard Road in Newbury Park have complained the road into the Dos Vientos housing project would be too steep--up to a 12% grade, which would be steeper than the Conejo Grade and far above the city standard of 5%.

A consultant’s study to be presented Tuesday to the City Council agrees with residents about the slope, but does not recommend that the developer be forced to build a more gradual--and more expensive--alternative. The developer has threatened to sue the city if the project is redesigned.

Instead, the report recommends other changes, ranging from a ban on heavy trucks to building a raised median.

But residents say such revised plans will not address the danger posed by the project.

“These improvements will help a little bit, but it will not solve the problem,” Newbury Park resident Milan Svitek said. “They are trying to do a cosmetic change.”

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The report, by consultants Willdan Associates of Ventura, estimates the original road design could result in four times the number of traffic accidents than comparable roads with a grade less than 5%.

The study’s recommendations include:

* Changing the road from two lanes each way to two lanes uphill and one lane downhill.

* A raised median.

* Prohibiting trucks over 10,000 pounds.

* Straightening the road to allow for projected speeds of 55 mph.

The study did not examine the potential benefits of a reduction in the road’s slope, stating only that, barring the recommended changes, to make the road safer “it would be necessary to lower the grade from 12 percent.” A city’s staff report accompanying the study, however, states that “it may be legally difficult” to change the slope.

A spokesman for the road developer, Operating Engineers Trust Fund, has said any design changes would violate a council-approved grading plan and could result in a court battle.

Analysts have estimated that the road, one of two feeding into the 2,350-unit Dos Vientos Ranch development, would have cost the developer between $1 million and $4 million more if built to city standards.

But some council members say safety is more important than the potential for a lawsuit.

“The fact that it says a lower grade would make it safer means we need to re-look at the issue,” Mayor Mike Markey said. “I’m not really concerned whether the developer is happy or sad.”

Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, who voted against the current road plan in 1996, called the 12% grade a “sweetheart deal” driven by the developer’s need to save money.

“The city should have known better, and it did know better when we first approved the grade on a 3-2 vote,” Zeanah said. “I’m glad the consultant has concurred with us.”

But questions remain about the Willdan study.

For instance, the report does not detail how much the recommended changes would reduce the potential for accidents. A city staff report on the study claims a reduction of 50% to 60%, though the figure is not mentioned in the report’s conclusions.

The study also assumed a projected speed of 55 mph on the road but based some of its comparisons on steep roads at 45 mph.

City Traffic Engineer Beth Baden, however, said the city is satisfied with the changes recommended by the study. “Any time you open a road, there are going to be accidents,” she said. “With the design features they’re recommending, we feel it’s in the acceptable range.”

But opponents are not convinced.

Jim Nelson, a spokesman for Casas de la Senda, a homeowners association, questioned the city’s conclusions and said the changes would not make the road safe.

“There is no claim in the study as to how much the improvements will reduce the accident rate,” Nelson said. “[City staff members] pulled their numbers out of the air.”

The improvements, while welcome, are not enough, he said.

“They’re putting a Band-Aid on it,” Nelson said. “They made a poor decision to give away 12%, and they tried their best to justify it, but they haven’t.”

Folmar is a Times staff writer and Takenouchi is a correspondent.