Thousand Oaks City Council to Discuss Road Extension

An upcoming attempt to address traffic congestion at the intersection of Moorpark Road and the Ventura Freeway has reopened a thornier subject: the extension of Rolling Oaks Drive.

As part of their effort to expand roads around the already overcrowded interchange, Thousand Oaks City Council members may decide today whether the extension will move forward.

The extension would alleviate backups during the other road work, which would leave sections of Moorpark Road with only three lanes for about five months.

Area residents are split on the extension. Some say they need an alternate route during construction; others feel the extension would hurt local neighborhoods.

The extension is part of the general plans of the city and the county, but the city considered eliminating it as part of a larger General Plan change in 1990. It later decided to process it separately, and the Planning Commission is to hold a public meeting on the subject later this year.

The council would make that meeting moot if it decides today to move forward with one of the three options to be presented by the Department of Public Works.

One plan is to connect the western half of Rolling Oaks Drive to the eastern portion by building about 400 feet of road through Rolling Oaks Estates. The second plan moves the extension to the north of Rolling Oaks Estates, and the last alternative is to connect and extend Greenmeadow Avenue instead.

The extension is not a prerequisite of the Moorpark Road expansion, but senior traffic engineer Ruth Baden said residents have raised concerns about construction delays.

“They feel a need for secondary access,” she said.

In the past, the city police and county fire departments have supported extending Rolling Oaks Drive for safety reasons.