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Drivers say bridge widening has led to other problems
Congestion remains a concern; Drivers say the lanes' abrupt narrowing chokes traffic
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Ray Meese / Star staff Motorists travel across the Santa Clara River Bridge into Ventura on Highway 101.
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Dave Hansen sees Highway 101 as the West Coast's Main Street, and for 35 years he's had a front row seat.
From his office window at The Shop, a Harley-Davidson and Indian motorcycle parts and service business in Ventura, Hansen looks out on the highway as it cuts into Ventura just past Johnson Drive.
He watched for five years as traffic jammed up behind the Santa Clara River Bridge construction zone.
Now that the $85 million widening project is complete — the bridge lanes were fully opened before July 4 — Hansen is wondering if the work might have moved the traffic choke point closer to Ventura.
He has noticed backups now happening where traffic merges onto the freeway from Johnson Drive.
"They may know something I don't, but I thought when they started doing the work that they were just moving the problem north," Hansen said.
The project widened the roadway to 12 lanes as it goes over the Santa Clara River. The improvements have already made the drive much easier for commuters, who are long used to the thick rows of cars backed up in both directions during rush hour.
But some drivers worry about how the highway suddenly narrows right after the bridge crossing. The lanes quickly drop from six each way to four and then three. On the northbound side, right in front of where The Shop stands, the narrowing occurs where motorists are merging onto the freeway from Johnson Drive, while others are exiting at Victoria Avenue.
During the July Fourth holiday, traffic backed up in that section on both sides of the highway.
California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Shawna Davison said drivers are still getting used to the new configuration, and it's too soon to say whether that stretch of highway is a new choke point. Over the July Fourth holiday, the CHP reported only one accident on that portion of the freeway, she said.
Room for disabled vehicles on shoulder
Engineers working on the project said they were unaware of any new bottlenecks at that point, according to Jeanne Bonfilio, a California Department of Transportation spokeswoman. But on Friday afternoon, the area was congested.
The wider freeway will have plenty of capacity, Bonfilio said.
The widening helped to straighten the approach to the bridge on the northbound lanes, where a sharp curve often caused drivers to step on the brakes.
Ray Meese / Star staff Now that the $85 million widening project is complete, some commuters worry the bottleneck has been pushed farther north.
The two-lane Oxnard Boulevard onramp will handle added traffic as both residential and commercial building at RiverPark is completed over the next decade, Caltrans officials have said.
The work added a shoulder along the center divider, giving room for disabled vehicles to be moved out of traffic, Davison said.
"In the past that would have completely blocked the bridge, but now we have access for emergency vehicles and we can push (disabled) vehicles out of the way," Davison said.
Victoria Avenue is a heavily used onramp and offramp, because it's one of the main access points to the County Government Center and courts.
Lanes narrow from six to three
Commuter Doug Messner, a financial planner who works in an office building that overlooks the construction project, is happy that five years of long delays and impossible detours are over.
The commute to and from his Ventura home to work has become much less stressful.
"It's 100 percent better," said Messner, who uses the newly completed Oxnard Boulevard onramp to access the northbound freeway going over the bridge.
He has a few concerns and complaints, however. Someone with the city of Oxnard has decided that those exiting the parking lot from his work cannot turn right and drive directly onto the freeway onramp.
Instead, they have to take a long roundabout detour to get to the northbound freeway. Beyond that issue is that the widened road very quickly narrows after Johnson Drive.
"I think it's curious that it goes from six (lanes) suddenly down to three," said Messner, who exits right at Victoria. "It really slows down after Johnson."
Surface streets causing problems
Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff "It really slows down after Johnson," said Doug Messner, who uses the newly completed Oxnard Boulevard onramp.
On the southbound side of the freeway the issues are a little different, with backups often starting behind merging traffic from the heavily used onramp at Victoria.
On the Oxnard side, the bridge issues seem to have less to do with the freeway and more to do with surface streets leading to it and the potential for growth to overwhelm the roadways, said Councilman Tim Flynn. He has teamed with attorney Richard Francis in backing a new initiative to tie any new development to fixing congested intersections in the city.
The homes, shops and commercial development at RiverPark will ultimately add 94,000 car trips in and out of the area, Flynn said. With other proposed developments in the area — a 1,500-home project at Wagon Wheel, 2,500 homes at Jones Ranch and a more than 500-unit senior housing development near Vineyard Avenue — the added traffic has the potential to overwhelm the highway improvements.
No highway improvements can get around the growth in traffic, and more should be done to encourage car pools and mass transit, Flynn said.
Posted by Tom_Johnston on July 9, 2007 at 5:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I've also noticed already that the congestion seems to have moved north...to somewhere between Johnson Drive and Victoria. Maybe a lot of it is the result of 6 lanes to three but time will tell on this.
For sure, the plans of Oxnard to add thousands and thousands of homes/cars to the area adjacent to the bridge by way off the Riverpark developement (just wait until the river runs through it though...just a matter of time) and the "Wagon Wheel Towers" will just take us all back to where we were before the bridge project.
Riverpark seems a done deal, but maybe the "towers" can be prevented...
Posted by brandon_sparks on July 9, 2007 at 10:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I drive this everyday during rush hour and it is a massive improvement. Sure there is some congestion after the bridge now, but at least it doesn't back up all the way to Camarillo because of it like it occasionally did before. It's just a momentary slow down that could be improved with increased warning and signage.
Posted by rebel123 on July 9, 2007 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, they just moved the problem farther up the freeway. The surface streets, especially the Johnson Dr. no. bound onramp.....talk about a major accident waiting to happen there......are a mess in that area and they are talking of a major rework on Victoria Ave in the near future, which means more people will be avoiding it and using that stretch of the freeway to navigate the east end of town. It was horribly short sighted in the planning of the whole bridge project, the record shows it was even more poorly executed, came in over schedule by years and over budget by phenomal amounts of money. And like everything Cal Trans does, it simply serves to justify the need for Cal Trans because now they'll have to deal with the bottle neck that is still there during the worst of peak traffic. We should be putting those resources in to viable, convenient and clean mass transit of the sort that Europe has to move people.
Posted by Prodigy on July 9, 2007 at 11:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with Brandon, now at least it slows only to the bridge. Before the completion the traffic backed to Rice Ave. at times, all because people were scared of a slight 10ft jog to the right. Now if some people would realize that Telephone works just as well as Victoria to access South Ventura!
Posted by meblondie138 on July 9, 2007 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I knew this was going to happen 5 years ago before the construction started and I don't even have an engineering degree. Why couldn't the engineers predict this....... Just another way to spend the taxpayers $$$ and to put it into their own pockets....
Posted by madmilt on July 9, 2007 at 2:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The bridges initial reconstruction was due to the deterioration of the old bridge, and the high levels the Santa Clara River was reaching in the good old days of rain. Traffic was the secondary issue to face. Everyone keeps complaining about the 6 lanes down to 3. Well it’s not really 6 lanes of through traffic. Two lanes in each direction are exit only lanes. So the freeway really goes from 4 to 3 lanes. Just remember that if you are driving through there stay in the fast lanes avoid the merge and minimize traffic.
Posted by gregk on July 9, 2007 at 2:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Caltrans... solving bottlenecks 1/2 mile and $85m at a time.
Posted by icedmadness on July 9, 2007 at 4:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All I can say is "Duh"
Posted by nancy.ferrell.j2yq on July 9, 2007 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So if all these new homes, condos, office buildings are going up in Oxnard why can't the State make the builder & City of Oxnard pay for the new freeways? I didn't vote for it. And whomever did let them flip for the bill!!
Posted by I_LOVE_VENTURA on July 9, 2007 at 5:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If people just slowed down a bit too there wouldn't be much to worry about in terms of the shorter merging lanes...
Posted by drattar on July 9, 2007 at 5:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was driving northbound on 101 and almost had an accident right after crossing the widened bridge. I had to brake suddenly because the road narrowed down to three lanes and all the drivers in front of me had slowed. The scene in my rear view mirror was frightening -- oncoming drivers zooming toward me! The freeway overpass bridge is only three lanes. What was the point of widening the Santa Clara River bridge if everything else is only three lanes?
Posted by floydspinky71 on July 9, 2007 at 6:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It would have been better if NB 101 had four lanes until the Victoria offramp. Traffic on the offramp is usually backed up into the freeway, and the fourth lane ending immediately after the Johnson exit makes no sense.
Posted by rayrose77 on July 9, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i live in florida. once they open more lanes. watch out what is ahead of you .
Posted by cameronincam on July 9, 2007 at 9:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was mixed at first, but the 5:30 mega jam is gone (for now) I do think Ventura needs to do something to the section north of the bridge. The problem is never ending because of the drop to two lanes under the 126 merge.
What needs to happen next is to have Oxnard handle the issue at Rose. That backup stops the southbound flow pretty badly. Then move south to Camarillo and determine why traffic slows between Del Norte and Las Posas... no reason @ all considering there is no loss of lanes and minimal merging.
Posted by daleonard on July 10, 2007 at 7:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
NB @ Victoria - when you have one freeway lane devoted to offramp traffic, ya think some kind of bypass strategy or signal work might be addressed? Between the 6 to 4 to 3 merge and the all stop to exit NB Vic, I hope it doesn't take a smokin' fatal accident for the State to fix the design problem. Ever try to work a bubble out of a bad wallpaper job???
Posted by Ventuckey on July 10, 2007 at 7:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's the problems. We cannot make a conclusion until they activate those stop lights on the NB Oxnard Blvd and Johnson Dr on ramps, that will help dramatically! Second, the first time I entered on NB Johnson, I was like "what the f***?" the 4th lane just ends there as you're merging. Also, in Oxnard, when they add the 4th lane in the fast lane there is no warning, the lane just gets wider and people don't know weather to go right or left. I always put my blinker on to go left and pass, but then some soccor mom in here Surburban always goes "oh, an extra lane" and swerves over fast with out looking. There needs to be signage telling people there is an extra lane and when the lanes ends, it's common sense and they are everywhere else there is this type of lane change. Even if there are those long white arrows pointed in.
Why are these markings not up?
I still, cannot figure out why there is so much slowing in Camarillo on the NB side around 4-6pm. There is no loss of lanes!
Posted by joee423 on July 12, 2007 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Metered on-ramps are the only way to solve the merge issue. If you notice, the new on-ramps have meters installed. They need to be installed from Ventura to Agoura.
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