DEBATED ROAD TO DEBUT BORCHARD EXTENSION SET TO OPEN THIS WEEK.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - After years of legal battles and public outcry about motorists possibly speeding down its steep grade, a 1.4-mile road connecting Dos Vientos Ranch to Newbury Park is scheduled to open this week.

The Borchard Road extension will provide another major alternate route to Lynn Road for entering and exiting Dos Vientos, a 2,350-home neighborhood now being built.

Resident Kathy Frasher couldn't be happier.

``I'm glad the right thing was done and that everyone can move ahead,'' said Frasher, who moved to Dos Vientos almost two years ago. ``The road will benefit everyone. It will give another route for people who live in this area.

``I'm not concerned about the safety issue. I have not driven on the road, but I've looked at it and walked that way, and I never understood people who were saying that it was going to be (dangerous).''

But residents like Jack Smith, who has watched the construction from his kitchen window, remain concerned about the steep grade of the three-lane Borchard Road extension.

With a 12 degree slope and a 40 mph speed limit, he worries the design will cause motorists to speed through the neighborhood, which is filled with schoolchildren.

``People going to work here have never experienced cross traffic,'' said Smith, who lives at the bottom of the road. ``It's unsafe.''

And Smith said it's not just the downhill motorists he's worried about, but also the speed of vehicles going up the hill as drivers push on the gas pedal to make the climb.

The road has become a heated political issue over the years, with residents circulating petitions for a traffic study and lobbying the council en masse to stop the road.

The City Council in 1996 approved the developers' request for a 12 degree grade on the roadway - more than twice the 5 degree slope first approved - despite protest from area residents.

Developers have always maintained the road as designed is safe. Developer Arlen Miller declined to comment on the road's opening.

The city, after losing several court challenges against developers Miller Brothers and Operating Engineers to halt the road, spent $563,200 to install traffic devices this summer, in an attempt slow traffic coming downhill.

Smart signals that greet speeders with a red light and other measures were part of the city's package to ensure safety on the road.

``We are in the process of making a number of safety enhancements,'' Public Works Director Don Nelson said. ``Once all of the safety enhancements are installed and the signal is functioning properly, then the road will be opened.''

The road extends west from its current terminus at Reino Road, then intersects with two other major roads in Dos Vientos Ranch - where 500 homes are now occupied and the rest are expected to be completed in five years - that feeds into Lynn Road on the south end of the planned community.

As part of the safety improvements, a new traffic signal will have the ability to track the speed of a vehicle coming downhill. If the car exceeds the 40 mph speed limit, the driver will be greeted with a red light.

The city also put in a lighted crosswalk at Borchard and San Antonio Drive, concrete barriers in the median and warning signs. Trucks more than 10,000 pounds, and parking will be prohibited on the roadway.

City traffic engineering manager John Helliwell said the inspection of the traffic signal at Borchard Road and Dos Vientos Drive, tentatively set for Thursday, is the last step before the road opens.

Activist and nearby resident Laura Lee Custodio, when asked if she felt the road is now safe with the traffic devices, she replied, ``No. My God, no.''

``No one told anybody when they bought their homes they would be living next to a divided highway,'' said Custodio, who with an environmental group filed a $661 million lawsuit against the Dos Vientos developers over the road.

The suit claims the developers lied to the City Council about the road's safety to get its approval to deviate from the city's standard of a 5 degree grade. The developers have filed an appeal to overturn a lower court's decision to allow the lawsuit to move forward.

``Every morning I have remorse that the people who represent the city didn't do a better job for people who live here,'' Custodio said. ``It's a constant reminder of city government failing to protect its citizens.''

However, deputy city manager Scott Mitnick said the city has made sure that the road, with its design and enhanced safety measures, will be safe.

``The city of Thousand Oaks is proud of its safety record in the past, the present and where were going in the future,'' Mitnick said. ``We would not open a road that was unsafe.''

A BRIEF HISTORY

Following is a timeline of the Borchard Road extension:

--April 1988: City approves Dos Vientos Ranch project, which includes the Borchard Road extension.

--July 1996: The council, against Planning Commission's recommendation and over protests from area residents, approves developers' request to increase the grade from 5 to 12 percents.

--May 1997: Operating Engineers begins grading Borchard Road.

-- April 1998: Developers agree to finance an independent study to assess if road is unsafe.

--July 1998: Reacting to concern from Newbury Park homeowners, the council issues stop-work order on grading. Only 300 feet of road remains to be graded.

--August 1998: Operating Engineers sues the city for damages due to the delay on project.

--September 1998: Miller Bros., the principal developer, files a similar lawsuit.

--September 1998: Judge lifts stop-work order.

--December 1998: City Council forms a citizens' committee to recommend safety features for the road.

--December 1998: Save Open Space files a $661 million lawsuit, claiming developers lied about the road's safety to the City Council. The group later dismisses the suit.

--January 1999: Judge orders the city to approve the street improvement plans, allowing the road to be completed.

--February 1999: All three traffic engineers on citizens' committee resign.

--March 1999: Resident and SOS refile $661 million lawsuit.

--March 1999: Council defeats a proposal by Councilman Dan Del Campo to tax Dos Vientos homeowners for road-related expenses. Del Campo quits two-member council team that was formed in January.

--Councilman Andy Fox, the other member of the two-member negotiating team, devises ways to slow traffic.

--May 1999: City and developers reach agreement that allows city to redesign the road, but keeps 12 percent grade.

--June 1999: Superior Court judge denies developers' motion to dismiss the $661 million lawsuit.

--June 1999: City again tries to stop construction in court, saying it can't find an engineer willing to design new safety elements.

--July 1999: City loses appeal over previous court decision that had allowed developers to complete construction.

--September 1999: State appellate court denies developers' request and allows $661 million lawsuit to proceed.

--October 1999: Developers file an appeal that could delay the court trial for the $661 million lawsuit by more than a year.

--January 2000: City Council approves spending $563,200 to install traffic safety devices.

--August 2000: Road slated to open.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box, map

Photo:

(color) Traffic signals are among the features the city hopes will ensure safety along the new Borchard Road extension.

Joe Binoya/special to the Daily News

Box: A Brief History (see text)

Map: New Borchard Road Extension

The debated Borchard Road extension, which will provide access to the new Dos Vientos Ranch, is nearly complete and could open this week.