CAMARILLO : Residents Oppose 2 Freeway Ramps

A small, yet well-prepared cadre of Camarillo homeowners believe two proposed Ventura Freeway ramps will cause unacceptably high noise and traffic levels if built at the only intersection providing access to their neighborhood.

Bearing prepared speeches, the Sunshine tract residents launched a coordinated critique of the on- and off-ramps at Granada Street and Ventura Boulevard at Wednesday’s Camarillo City Council meeting. The ramps are part of the proposed $7-million, second-phase of the Carmen Drive interchange upgrade.

“Putting all that traffic into that location is not a safe thing to do,” resident Jeanie Fitzgerald said. “I think you need to rethink the whole plan. It is a jumble of problems and I think you people can do better than this.”

The council is not expected to make a decision before Jan. 10, at the earliest.

But the systematic verbal assault led to a detailed discussion of alternatives to the proposal, as the council sought to minimize the project’s impact on nearby homes.

No consensus emerged as traffic engineers pointed out flaws to each option that would either leave present chronic traffic problems unresolved or cause even more undesirable effects on the neighborhood.

During afternoon rush hour, traffic backs up at the interchange as commuters driving home meet customers headed for the Camarillo Factory Stores or the Edwards Cinema complex.

“It is just not acceptable now and I don’t want us to put anything in that’s unacceptable in the future,” Councilman Stanley Daily said.

The project would realign and widen Ventura Boulevard, bringing the roadway closer to 10 homes and a mobile home park. A six- to eight-foot masonry wall would be built to shield homes from the noise of passing vehicles. In addition, a pair of freeway ramps and a traffic signal would be installed at Granada Street and Ventura Boulevard.