Offramp to Ease Camarillo Congestion

Ventura County will get its first new freeway offramp in nearly two decades, one that traffic engineers say will help cut congestion at another interchange in this city as the new Cal State Channel Islands campus opens for business.

Construction of the $7.7-million Springville interchange--roughly halfway between Central Avenue and Las Posas Road--is expected to begin in spring. It is being planned and paid for by Camarillo, as it prepares for growth along the city’s western fringe.

Along with a planned new road, the interchange will help relieve traffic on the heavily traveled Los Posas exchange, city officials say. That is crucial as Camarillo prepares for the planned 2002 opening of the county’s first public university at the site of the former Camarillo State Hospital.

As many as 15,000 students, many of them commuters, are expected to attend Cal State Channel Islands. The interchange has seen its use grow from 18,000 cars a day to 28,000 over the last 12 years, officials said.

Construction on the intersection should take about 18 months.