CAMARILLO : Bridge, Street Work Plans Protested

A meeting to discuss reconstruction of the Carmen Drive bridge in Camarillo drew nearly 45 residents Monday, many voicing opposition to a proposed Ventura Freeway off-ramp at Granada Drive.

Residents expressed concerns about existing noise and exhaust from cars on Ventura Boulevard, which they said would worsen when the road is moved closer to their back yards.

“What you’re doing is a disaster, a complete disaster,” said Giovanni Lorelli, whose back yard is next to Ventura Boulevard. “That off-ramp at Granada must not go in because we don’t want it.”

Consultants from Impact Science of Thousand Oaks are scheduled to conduct an environmental impact report on the $11-million project.

Plans for the roadwork call for new off-ramps and traffic signals from the Ventura Freeway. The two-lane bridge would be widened to four lanes and heightened and lengthened to accommodate eight freeway lanes in the future, said Dan Greeley, engineering director.

Ventura Road would be moved away from the south side of the freeway to make room for one of the new off-ramps, Greeley said.

On the north side of the freeway, the city would have to acquire land from several service stations when Carmen Drive is widened, Greeley said.

Developers of the Koll-Leonard Camarillo Center, site of a proposed 250,000-square-foot mall, have already contributed $1.3 million to the road project.

The state Department of Transportation will pay $4.4 million and the city will spend $6.6 million on the project, which is not slated to begin construction for about five years. Work is expected to last eight months, Greeley said.