Board, Bowing to Residents, Amends Rural Road Project

Heeding the pleas of an anguished father and dozens of residents, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a project that would have allowed traffic to flow freely on a rural road between Moorpark and Camarillo.

The action comes a week after 14-year-old Jennifer Bonds was struck by a car and killed while jogging along Santa Rosa Road. Residents say the accident underscores safety problems along the two-lane road that stretches from the Ventura Freeway in Camarillo to Thousand Oaks. The driver was not speeding at the time, authorities said.

Paul Bonds, who was jogging behind his daughter and witnessed the accident, was among 200 Santa Rosa Valley residents who packed the board’s meeting room to demand safety improvements. Bonds said that commuters increasingly speed down the highway and that the lack of bike lanes makes it dangerous for anyone who wants to share the road.

Bonds said his son was almost killed on the same stretch four years ago.

“I don’t want to give any more children,” Bonds said. “I don’t want you to have to lose any of your children.”

Bids are being taken for a $4-million traffic light project at Moorpark and Santa Rosa roads. But the residents objected to a proposed “free-flow” lane designed to allow motorists on southbound Moorpark Road to bypass the signal light as they merge onto westbound Santa Rosa.

Supervisors unanimously agreed that the bypass lane could encourage speeding and instructed public works staff to drop plans for it.

Supervisors also tentatively agreed to ban right turns on red for southbound motorists, despite concerns by county staff that it would result in longer waits for drivers at the intersection.

Residents voiced an array of concerns, from drivers exceeding the 55-mph speed limit posted for much of the road, to the difficulty of turning onto Santa Rosa from side streets because of heavy traffic.

Vic Penun said the signal will help break up the traffic flow, giving residents a chance to pull onto the road. Medians should also be installed to discourage motorists from passing on both sides as residents slow to make turns, Penun said.

Residents asked that the California Highway Patrol beef up its patrols.

“Commuters can use our road--we have no problem with that,” resident Nick Covella said. “But they need to slow it down.”

Santa Rosa Road is heavily used by motorists trying to avoid backups on California 23 during peak commute periods.

Supervisors said they would consider dropping long-term plans to widen Santa Rosa into a four-lane highway.

Work on the traffic signal is expected to begin in the spring.