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Foes of Road Project Cite Study, Petition

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Opponents of an embattled road project added fuel to the controversy Monday when they released an independent analysis blasting a city-sponsored traffic study and filed a petition opposing the project.

The planned roadway, an extension of Borchard Road in Newbury Park, is set to have portions with a 12% slope, far steeper than the city usually allows. By comparison, the Conejo Grade has a 7% slope.

A city-funded road study by Ventura-based Willdan Associates criticized the plan last week and recommended a variety of safety measures, including a raised median and a prohibition on use of the road by trucks heavier than 10,000 pounds.

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But a new study commissioned by local homeowners takes both the road project and the Willdan study to task.

The new study, by a traffic engineer who serves the city of Hermosa Beach, calls the Willdan review “contradictory and fraught with errors.”

Among those errors, the new report contends, are a 30% underestimation of traffic volumes on the planned road and flawed engineering comparisons.

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The result, according to the report, is a road that would endanger drivers and residents.

Opponents of the road extension also filed a petition with the City Council on Monday that they said bears the signatures of 800 local residents.

Final word on the road’s future could come at a City Council meeting at 6 tonight, when the council will consider changes recommended in last week’s Willdan study.

Project opponent Jim Nelson said he hopes the petition and the new study will sway the council.

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“It should put them in a position where they don’t have a choice but to reject the recommendations and try over, because there are so many problems,” he said.

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