City Backs Design for Interchange

City officials have endorsed the design of a proposed interchange at Pacific Coast Highway and Pleasant Valley Road, even though there will be no direct freeway connection from PCH into Oxnard.

The City Council decided not to oppose the design Tuesday after hearing that a bridge three-quarters of a mile long and towering four stories over the entire interchange would be necessary to make such a connection.

The massive bridge’s estimated $50-million cost would exceed the $38.9-million cost of the interchange, officials said.

The California Department of Transportation design will force Oxnard residents to negotiate two stoplights when driving northbound into the city from PCH.

But the council decided to drop any possible objections to the design out of concern it could delay the proposed start of the two-year project in 2000 and possibly jeopardize the hard-won federal funding for the interchange.

The interchange is part of an improved route from the Port of Hueneme to the Ventura Freeway that is viewed as an integral component of the seaport’s continued economic growth.

“It’s a regional issue, but the residents have to live with that interchange,” Councilman Tom Holden said.

City officials, however, unanimously voted to ask Caltrans to replace one of the two stoplights with an offramp from Pleasant Valley Road to Oxnard Boulevard, while also approving the remainder of the interchange design.

“We want to be sure this interchange is going to work and not cause a traffic jam,” traffic engineer Joe Genovese said.