Somis’ Donlon intersection: Breaking ground at long last

By Debra Tash

The County of Ventura officially broke ground on the Donlon/Highway 118 intersection.  They will be realigning Donlon Road, making the juncture a four way intersection instead of the dogleg which has contributed to gridlock in rural Somis.  David Fleisch,  Ventura County Public Works Transportation Director, opened the ceremony, saying, “This is has been a long process.”

In 1999 CalTrans, which is responsible for Highway 118/Los Angeles Ave and Highway 34/Somis Road, wanted to widen the 118.  They planned on first improving the troubled intersection, which even at that time was at a level F service.  The project would have cost 3.5 million and been started by 2002.  Save Our Somis, a group formed by Barbara Kerkoff’ sued CalTrans in 2000 to stop the project, and they succeeded. Now the improvement, which is much smaller in scope, will be solely financed by the County of Ventura.

Supervisor Linda Parks

Linda Parks, who now represents Somis on the Board of Supervisors said: “This is about the accumulation of five decades of grassroots efforts.”   Those efforts have not always borne pleasant fruit. The County’s own press release states: “This is one of the most congested intersections in the County and has been a source of frustration to commuters for over 20 years.”  Further: “The accident rate at this intersection is three times the statewide average.”

The long delayed improvements will hopefully move the intersection from a level F to a level C, not perfect but at least passing.  Alison Sweet, chief engineer on the project, pointed out that the left hand tuning lane westbound will go from 110 feet to 350 feet, which will accommodate 10 to 12 more cars.   Also the shoulders will be widened to eight feet.  But the factor they are counting on that will move traffic is taking the intersection from a dogleg to a normal four way.  The signaling is presently “Split Phased” where each of the three legs is given the green-light separately.  After the construction is complete by January of 2016, east-west traffic will flow at the same time, moving more vehicles through the intersection.

The contractor, Toro, will work at night, to avoid further grief to the motoring public.

Supervisor Linda Parks, Moorpark Councilman Keith Millhouse, Alison Sweet, Camarillo Mayor Bill Little, Clyde Pratt

You can monitor the project’s progress on: http://vcdonlonrealign.org/ 

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Debra Tash is Editor-in-Chief of Citizensjournal.us, past president for Citizens Alliance for Property Rights, business executive and award-winning author, residing in Somis.

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