Supervisors Scale Back Controversial Road Plan

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to push forward with a smaller version of a controversial road improvement plan along Santa Clara Avenue just north of Oxnard.

Supervisors unanimously approved an environmental analysis of the project, which originally sought to widen a 2.8-mile stretch of the road to four lanes. A portion of Central Avenue was also supposed to be widened.

But after numerous complaints from residents in Nyeland Acres, where some houses are a few feet from the roadway, supervisors decided to scale down the original plan.

Residents complained that the road improvements would increase traffic and extend the high-traffic roadway even closer to their driveways.

Instead of four lanes, supervisors now want to make improvements to the existing two lanes. Those enhancements include wider turn lanes for Santa Clara and Central avenues, paved shoulders and new pavement.

Supervisors also ordered a study of building a frontage road that would serve as a buffer between the homes and Santa Clara Avenue.

But adding a frontage road could delay the project by about two years, because a new environmental study would have to be conducted, public works officials said.