New Lanes Open on 126 Between Fillmore, Piru

Officials are applauding the completion of a five-mile widening project on California 126 nine months ahead of schedule that they hope will help signal an end to Ventura County’s infamous “Blood Alley.”

Gathering for a morning ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, state and local officials opened two new lanes between Fillmore and Piru, part of a decade-long push to widen the crash-prone highway to four lanes and improve safety.

But in praising state, local and private agencies for working together to solve a critical community problem and complete the work quickly, some were careful not to forget those who lost their lives on the highway--including victims of a spate of accidents that occurred in the construction zone while the latest widening project was underway.

“Last year at this time we suffered a rash of serious accidents that focused our efforts on completing the highway,” Fillmore Mayor Don Gunderson said. “It was unfortunate that we had to have so many tragic events in a compressed time to make this happen.”

The completed work now makes California 126 a four-lane highway from Ventura to Piru. Construction will continue through April 1999 as California Department of Transportation contractors add two lanes along the remaining 10.4 miles of Highway 126 from Piru to Interstate 5. The widening effort began near Santa Paula in 1985. Construction on the portion between Fillmore and Piru began in April 1996.

Authorities say there was no single reason for the five-week rash of deadly crashes that ensued eight months later in December. Eleven people died in the wrecks.

The blame rested with such factors as speeding, falling asleep and other driving violations coupled with cement barriers set close to the highway’s edge.

Used to divert traffic around the very project intended to make the highway safer, the barriers left drivers no shoulder lane and no wiggle room if an oncoming motorist crossed over the center line.

“People were really doing a little bit of everything out there . . . and there wasn’t a lot of room for error,” CHP spokesman Dave Cockrill said.

The barriers ultimately were set as far back from the highway lanes as possible along the entire length of the construction project, he said.

Following the spate of accidents, the CHP went on an aggressive enforcement campaign, doubling the fines on tickets in the 45 mph zone while a public awareness campaign worked to make people aware of the potentially dangerous driving conditions.

The result was a significant decline in accidents on the rural roadway. The last fatal crash on the highway was July 3, when Jennifer Hutton of Castaic died after her car collided with a motor home near Timber Canyon Road. Among those at Friday’s ribbon-cutting was resident Sandy Butts. Holding her 7-year-old daughter, Stephanie, Butts said she was grateful to see the work finally completed.

Over 11 years, Butts and her husband had been forced to use a passing lane as a left-turn lane to enter their home and five-acre citrus orchard. Once rear-ended by another motorist as she sat waiting to turn, Butts is thrilled that the highway now includes a center turning lane. “I’m really happy people have two safe lanes to drive in and we have that cushion in the middle of the road,” she said. “We have seen some really bad accidents.”

Meanwhile, Caltrans contractors are scheduled to finish construction by June on an $11.4-million project to widen a 5.4-mile stretch of the 126 from Center Street in Piru to the Los Angeles County line.

The final $15.1-million project to widen a five-mile stretch from the county line to Interstate 5 began in March and is scheduled to be completed by April 1999, Caltrans officials said. Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long said she is under no illusion that the widening work will end all fatalities on the highway.

While lamenting that the 11 people who died on the roadway last year will not be sharing this holiday season with their families, she is certain that the work will make a positive difference in highway safety. “I’m really proud that government was able, in one year, to reach a goal,” Long said.

Still, state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) said she has been pushing for state funding to improve the highway since 1977, and is thrilled to see “the end of the tunnel.”

Times correspondent Scott Steepleton contributed to this story.