Rumble on the Highway

El Nino temporarily accomplished what residents for years have sought and what their City Council could never deliver: a dramatic cut in the truck traffic that often chokes California 118, Moorpark’s main thoroughfare.

The first strong storms in February knocked out a bridge in Somis, blocking the highway and rerouting much of the truck traffic out of Moorpark. The effects of El Nino brought praise even from Mayor Pat Hunter, who said the nearly truck-free route offered “a vision” of what the future could be.

But the dream soon came to an end. Within weeks the bridge was repaired and the highway was reopened to trucks. The big rigs and cement trucks were back in business.

But not forever, some residents promise.

In Moorpark, a group of neighbors hopes to limit truck trips on California 23 by pressing a legal battle against expansion of a sand and gravel mine to the north.

In neighboring Somis, residents want to halt proposed widening of California 118, which runs through Moorpark and Somis. Many fear turning the route into a four-lane highway will bring even more truck traffic and development.

“Truck traffic has gone up quite a bit, so it’s at a point that some people in the city are intimidated by the trucks,” said the city’s director of public works, Ken Gilbert.

Few formal studies have been done on the volume of truck traffic along the city’s two main thoroughfares, California 23 and 118. But Caltrans did conduct one-day studies in 1980 and 1995 that suggest traffic has grown dramatically: The number of trucks traveling through the intersection of High Street and California 23 rose from 654 to 1,490.

Truck volume is even higher on California 118, Caltrans officials said, although it has not been measured.

Gilbert said there has always been some truck traffic on 118, but “the volume seems to have increased every year at a rate that is faster than what we would normally expect.”

The fight to cut truck traffic on California 23 centers on a legal battle over expansion of a quarry that generates much of that traffic--a quarry that has been operating since long before Moorpark became a city.

About 20 residents from throughout the city joined under the name “Fairview Neighbors” to file suit against the county after it approved the expansion of Transit Mixed Concrete Co.’s sand and gravel company just north of Moorpark in 1996.

They were worried about a new asphalt plant approved at the site, but their main concern was the increased truck traffic the mine would generate.

Their petition to halt the expansion was rejected earlier this week by a judge. But the group--whose lawyer contends that the judge doesn’t understand environmental law--is already planning its appeal and expects to be back in court in six months.

“We just won’t give up,” said Suzanne Thomas, one of the group’s leaders. “It’s a matter of principle.”

Thomas lives on a ranch off Happy Camp Road, where she breeds horses. The truck traffic “affects every aspect of your day, all day long,” she said.

“It determines what time you get up, what time you go to bed, what time you take your horses to the trail,” she said. “It affects what time you drive out and when you want to get your mail.”

To raise money for the legal expenses, Thomas and other residents have dug into their own pockets, gotten help from businesses and held raffles and bake sales. The group has sent out hundreds of letters to Moorpark and Somis residents asking for contributions to support the appeal.

Members of Fairview Neighbors are not the only residents upset about trucks. Moorpark resident Lori Ruter, for example, doesn’t belong to the group but supports its battle against trucks on California 23. She criticized the county for approving the expansion.

“That they would put that kind of truck traffic on the 23 is outrageous,” she said. “It just defies common sense.”

Under a permit approved for the next 20 years, Transit Mixed Concrete Co. is allowed up to 1,180 one-way trips per weekday. But the number of one-way truck trips throughout the week must average no more than 980 a day. On Saturday, the trucks can operate 226 one-way trips.

But Ruter worries that no one besides mine officials is monitoring the truck trips.

“I think people appreciate the trucks that . . . observe the rules of the road that make it safe for everyone,” she said. But “there are more trucks than there are people in a position of authority to keep an eye on them.”

In neighboring Somis, the battle is over truck traffic of a different kind: those plying California 118 to avoid the Ventura Freeway’s steep Conejo Grade and weight inspections.

Many residents of Moorpark and Somis have complained about trucks on this route. But Somis residents have been more vocal about the plans for expansion of the two-lane highway to four lanes. Transportation officials say the widening is needed for safety.

No matter what, truck traffic will increase on the route, said Ginger Gherardi, executive director of the county transportation commission.

“And when you have trucks and farm vehicles on a facility that is one-lane both ways, you tend to create a situation where people take silly risks, like passing when they shouldn’t,” she said.

If state and county officials follow through with their plans, California 118 will become a corridor from Port Hueneme to the San Fernando Valley in the next several decades.

Somis residents have packed county and town meetings and written a steady flow of protest letters to express their anger over the expansion. And they say they will continue fighting because they fear their rural community will be overrun with development and more truck traffic.

“We’re going to fight it,” said Somis resident Clyde Pratt. “What we want is a safe and appropriate highway for this area. I’m not terribly concerned about Southern California and Los Angeles and its needs.”

Truck traffic on that route jumped after a road connecting the 118 and 23 highways was completed in 1994, turning the corridor into an alternative to the Ventura Freeway for many trucks.

Some truckers probably thought, “Why climb the grade and get inspected when you can go through Moorpark?” said Gilbert.

Some farmers in Somis have complained that they have had difficulty maneuvering their slow tractors with the increase in truck traffic.

And despite the county’s argument for four lanes, they also worry about safety.

“You have more than that two-lane road, and you’ll kill a lot of people,” said Somis resident Bobby Morin, contending that traffic will speed up.

Moorpark residents have also complained about the traffic on 118. Some have even said they don’t want to visit the city’s businesses along that street because they don’t want to contend with the trucks, Hunter said.

Truck traffic has probably hurt business in Moorpark, he said, by scaring away customers.

Although there are no clear solutions to the truck problem, the city at least has a vision of what could be, Hunter says--a reduction in truck traffic like the cut caused by El Nino’s storms.

“It showed us what kind of downtown you could have--and was perhaps eye-opening,” Hunter said.