Study for Proposed Cal State Campus Looks at Effect of Growth, Traffic

As the push to create a four-year college in Ventura County shifts into high gear, planners have determined that several local roadways must be expanded and improved to handle a flood of traffic expected to be generated by the new campus, according to an environmental review released Friday.

The inch-thick document, designed to guide the transformation of Camarillo State Hospital into a Cal State campus, yielded few surprises for university officials.

However, it highlighted dozens of key issues--ranging from the preservation of historic buildings at the hospital complex to the protection of sensitive wildlife habitat and Native American resources.

The study also provides the first hard look at larger regional concerns, including the proposed creation of a 16,000-seat amphitheater nearby and the potential for inducing growth and paving over farmland as the project moves forward.

“This provides a good basis for reviewing the project,” said Noel Grogan, project manager for the budding Cal State campus. “In going through the [document], we have not found any issue that we could not deal with in a reasonable way to allow continued development.”

In less than seven months, Cal State officials plan to convert the shuttered mental hospital into the new home of the Ventura campus of Cal State Northridge, the first step toward establishment of a four-year university at the site.

Under that plan, the satellite campus would remain an extension of the Northridge university until it attracts enough students and funding to become a full-fledged campus, to be called Cal State Channel Islands.

But first, the Cal State governing board must certify an environmental impact report for the project. With trustees scheduled to review the study in September, a draft of the report was released Friday for public review and comment.

“From our perspective, one of the major issues is traffic and its impact on Camarillo,” said Camarillo City Manager Bill Little.

*

While there has been community support for the university, serious questions have been raised about the ability to funnel thousands of cars to and from the new campus.

According to the environmental study, the inaugural phase of development would generate about 14,500 daily trips, about 5,200 more than when the hospital was in operation.

When fully built, 15,000 full- and part-time students are expected to attend the university. At that point, the campus would generate about 36,500 daily trips, or 27,000 more than when the hospital was open.

To handle the increased traffic, the study suggests widening and improving several roadways.

In the first phase, for example, the study urges expanding Lewis Road to a four-lane thoroughfare near the campus. The study also recommends the addition of signal lights and other improvements on nearby streets.

When the transformation is completed, the study recommends major roadway improvements including the widening of the Ventura Freeway to 10 lanes through Camarillo, the widening of Pleasant Valley Road to four lanes and the expansion of the campus’ main entrance, Camarillo Drive, to four lanes.

*

While traffic issues are coming into focus, there is still a question of how to pay for that work.

The county already has earmarked some money for roadway improvements, including $4 million to begin a road-widening project to the university and $20 million for a new, full interchange at Lewis Road and the Ventura Freeway.

The study probed other key issues including the possibility of using car pools and public transportation as a way of reducing traffic and air pollution.

The study also considered the possibility that the new campus might spur a corridor of construction stretching from the campus to the Camarillo city limits.

Several institutional projects already dot the cropland along rural Lewis Road, and environmentalists fear that growth could spin off itself as roads are widened and water lines are expanded to meet the needs of development.

“We’re looking at what can be done to build in protection to avert fundamental changes in the character of that area,” said John Buse, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Center.

Ultimately, the environmental study will serve to bolster the campus master plan, a blueprint for development aimed at guiding creation of a range of money-making ventures being proposed at the site.

That makes the environmental review process all the more important, CSU officials said.

“The EIR at this point is a make-or-break issue,” Grogan said. “It determines whether the project goes forward.”