City Seeks Modified Lindero Canyon Onramp

The Westlake Village City Council has decided to ask Caltrans to consider making changes to a Ventura Freeway onramp that was the site of a fatal December accident after an oil tanker exploded.

Zacharia “Zaki” Gordon, 22, of Thousand Oaks, was killed on the westbound Lindero Canyon onramp of the freeway Dec. 19. Gordon lost control of his vehicle and crashed into an oil tanker, which slammed into the center divider and exploded.

The city will submit maps, drawings and a layout of the onramp to the state Department of Transportation next week, City Engineer John Knipe said. “It’s a very tight turn. If it was banked more, you could take more speed,” said Councilman Mark Rutherford, who suggested that the city approach Caltrans about the onramp.

In the early 1990s, the city had asked Caltrans to modify the ramp, but the agency said it met its standards, Knipe said. “It may meet their standards, but it has a short transition distance,” he noted.