CALTRANS PLAN QUESTIONED; IMPROVEMENT OF RURAL SR118 INTERSECTION RAISES CONCERNS.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

A Caltrans plan to improve the intersection of rural Highway 118 at Donlon Road has raised concern among some residents that the project is a first step toward widening the two-lane highway through town.

Although Caltrans officials said widening Highway 118, also known as Los Angeles Avenue, is years from becoming a reality, residents say they fear smaller projects could lead to more development.

They said the conceptual drawings of the SR118/Donlon Road improvement plan seem to call for a much more elaborate change than is warranted.

``Our first impression, intuitively, is that it appears to be way overscaled for what is now needed at that intersection,'' said Pat Arkin, a member of Save Our Somis, a group trying to curb area development.

``Our concern is that they may have gone vastly overboard in their design.''

Caltrans officials, however, said the improvement project was drawn up only to handle the traffic conditions that already exist in that area.

``It is designed for handling the intersection for one lane each direction,'' said Ahmed Abou-Abdou, project manager for Highway 118. ``It is not volume increasing, but it will make that intersection safer.''

Highway 118 is often used as an alternate way through the Las Posas Valley from Moorpark to Port Hueneme and Ventura. County and state officials have worked for years to come up with ways to make the road, which has been called ``Blood Alley,'' safer.

The SR118/Donlon Road project is one of two improvement plans that have received state funding so far.

The $40 million project entails building a connection between Donlon Road and Highway 34, both of which run into Los Angeles Avenue from opposite directions a few yards away from each other.

The other project, a $60 million plan to straighten the S-curve near Mesa Union School, has already undergone a public hearing but is still in the planning stages.

Some residents said any move to widen the highway would open the door to development and ruin the area's agricultural character.

``It just promotes a lot more traffic,'' said Joy Pratt, another member of SOS. ``They need to slow that highway down and get it to agricultural use rather than promote truck traffic.''

Officials said the government is responding to the outcry from people throughout the county, including some living in Somis, who have asked that the road be made safer.

``Highway 118 is a route of significant importance in the county, and it has been woefully inadequate and unsafe for many, many years,'' said Keith Jajko, senior administrative aide to county Supervisor Judy Mikels, who represents the area.

Although the public comment period is closed for the S-curve project, Caltrans will take public comment on the SR118/Donlon Road plan until Sept. 15.

Written comments may be submitted to Caltrans Office of Environmental Planning, SR118 at Donlon Road Project, 120 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.