AGENCIES DEVISE 3-PHASE APPROACH TO CONGESTION AT T.O. INTERSECTION.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

The choked-up intersection at Westlake Boulevard and Potrero Road may see some relief, after officials from Caltrans, the county and the city of Thousand Oaks met this week to work out a three-phase plan to unclog the crossing's congestion.

``The first phase would be to make a right turn from Westlake to Potrero, which would help the people who are going to school,'' said Supervisor Frank Schillo. ``Then, the second phase would be to widen the east side of the road to allow for traffic coming from the south going to the north. Then, the third would be a traffic signal (at the intersection.)''

The California Department of Transportation is reviewing whether to make the changes sequentially or to do them all at once, said Thousand Oaks Public Works Director Don Nelson.

The intersection has been the cause of frequent complaints as traffic exiting the Lake Sherwood development piles up down the street near Westlake Elementary School, Schillo said.

The numerous complaints prompted the county to search for funds that might alleviate the problem. As it turned out, developer fees from the Lake Sherwood project had been set aside for precisely that purpose.

The fees, totaling $300,000, were slated for the Westlake and Potrero intersection, along with other nearby street improvements.

On Tuesday, county, city and Caltrans officials agreed on a three-phase process that would gradually update the corner, said Schillo. No exact time lines or cost estimates on the improvements are available now, he said.

However, the last phase of the project may be complicated by Caltrans rules governing when a traffic signal is required, Schillo said.

Those regulations require that a certain volume of traffic must be reached to justify the light.

``While that amount of traffic is not there right now, there were two extenuating circumstances,'' he said. ``One is that soon the build-out of Lake Sherwood will affect that intersection with traffic. The second one, and I think even more important, is the critical nature of the danger right next to the school.''

The hazard the intersection poses to students may justify a stoplight even before traffic volume thresholds are reached, he said.

Schillo said he and Thousand Oaks Mayor Judy Lazar are drafting a letter to Caltrans urging approval of the stoplight. The letter should be mailed today, he said.