Project to Ease Bottleneck in Oxnard

Caltrans began work Monday to ease the bottleneck on the Ventura Freeway in Oxnard, where traffic comes to a daily standstill at the Santa Clara River Bridge.

The $114-million project includes widening the freeway from six to 12 lanes and improving the Pacific Coast Highway interchange. Work is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

“Traffic just tends to get congested in that area,” said Kerry Forsythe, deputy director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

In addition to the thousands of drivers trying to get through the stretch from Vineyard Avenue to Oxnard Boulevard, the recent reopening of the adjacent Esplanade shopping mall has brought even more traffic to the area.

According to 1998 figures from Caltrans, at least 168,000 cars travel through the stretch each day, but the number is expected to rise in more recent traffic studies, Forsythe said.

To make matters worse, an additional 79,000 cars are expected to flow onto the highway and surrounding streets if the RiverPark mixed-use project is built at the junction.

Groundbreaking for the 700-acre project, being developed across the freeway from the Esplanade, could get underway by late this summer. It is not scheduled to be completed until after the bridge is widened.

The $750-million mini-city would include about 2,800 dwellings centered on village greens, a vintage town square, a first-class hotel and convention center, three schools and a sports field. Commercial space would total 2.5 million square feet in 30 buildings.

The Oxnard Planning Commission is set to consider the project June 20.

As for work being done this week on the Ventura Freeway, all but one lane in each direction from Vineyard to Oxnard Boulevard will be closed from 11 p.m. tonight, Wednesday and Thursday to 6 a.m. the following day as crews re-stripe the lanes and install safety barriers to protect construction workers, said Caltrans spokesman James Deno.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held with Gov. Gray Davis in the next few weeks.