River-Bottom Freeway

I live in Casitas Springs and I have loved living here for the past 15 years. It is a small town that has next to no problems. That is, until a person who has lived here less than one year started a movement to have the Ojai Freeway moved to bypass Casitas Springs.

In order to do this, a two- or four-lane highway must be built in the Ventura River bottom. This project would cost an exorbitant amount of money and would provide the people of Ojai Valley a savings of maybe five minutes off their daily traffic commute. We have two fine roads that allow traffic to enter and exit the Ojai Valley already; now Caltrans wants to widen and realign the road into the Ventura River bottom.

Are we going to pave over the whole world and all its quiet spots? No longer will a father be able to sit with his son and just toss rocks into the water, because now there will be a freeway there. No longer will people be able to get away from the traffic while riding their bikes or walking on the Ojai bike trail, because there will be a freeway right next to them. No longer will native wildlife be able to just live without the strain of cars and the pollution that cars make.

The area that we are speaking about belonged to the wildlife for thousands of years, but now we need that area to build another road. The heck with the birds who hunt the river, let them find some other place to hunt, and the heck with the ecological system--why do we need things like that when we could have something like what happened to the L.A. River? Just pave over the river and make another Los Angeles.

The traffic is only dense for a total of four hours--two hours in the morning and two in the evening. But even during the heavy traffic times, I know that I can get out of the area and onto the major highway with no more delay than the time it takes to wait for a traffic light.

I realize the traffic Casitas Springs endures is difficult at times. I realize the people who live in Casitas Springs have concerns about traffic and have had those concerns longer than I have lived here. I know that the people of Casitas Springs had Caltrans place a counter across the highway twice. Counting the traffic coming and going through Casitas Springs, they twice said that there is not enough traffic to warrant a traffic change. I know that my neighbors and I have painted a billboard north of town asking people to slow down while they go through town.

If we do not qualify for a traffic light with a sidewalk, then how come we are talking about a multimillion-dollar bypass around Casitas Springs? This option is just wrong.

Gino Lynch

Casitas Springs