The Moorpark City Council voted to approve the preliminary concept of the North Hills Parkway, a four-lane bypass projected to cost about $85 million.

While years in the making, the plan fulfills a general plan requirement to relieve traffic effects of current and future growth. The road would also remove some truck traffic from city streets.

It would remove the state route designation from Walnut Canyon Road, which carries heavy gravel and hauling trucks through town. The parkway would be the new truck route.

"This allows us to prohibit trucks going through the city," Councilman Keith Millhouse said.

If the application for the

4-mile road goes through the city channels and is approved, it would run from Highway 118 near Princeton Avenue, linking newer housing developments around Spring and Walnut Canyon roads. The road would finally link up at Los Angeles Avenue, the rural portion of Highway 118, west of Gabbert Road.

About 93 acres of right-of-way acquisition would be required for the project.

It would end next to the proposed site of what is billed as the largest independent filming complex in the country. Commonwealth Studios said its proposed project would create about 150 local jobs and bring hundreds more to Moorpark. They plan on connecting into the highway with an east-west road with a stoplight.

Millhouse likened the parkway to Tierra Rejada Road, a four-lane road that serves the south side of town, which also links Highway 23 to Los Angeles Avenue at Gabbert Road. This would serve the north side of town, he said.

Much of the cost to build the bypass would fall to developers, who have agreements with the city that include requirements for right-of-way development, said Yugal Lall, city engineer.

The developers include Hitch Ranch, SunCal and Pardee developments. AB Properties, which is zoned commercial and industrial, will also be responsible for the section near Gabbert Road.

The road would cut through some agricultural land, including J.D. McGrath Farms, which borders AB Properties.

"We are really mixed," said Mary McGrath, whose family has owned the farm for 40 years.

She said she saw benefits, in terms of alleviating truck traffic, but the extension down to Los Angeles Avenue would cut through what is now open land.

In addition to an underpass for the railroad crossing near Gabbert Road, a bridge would require four residential properties on Walnut Canyon to be removed.

The next step will be meeting with California Department of Transportation officials and identifying other project funding sources, staff said.