FORUM TO FOCUS ON TRUCK CRASHES ON L.A. AVENUE.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Daily News Staff Writer

The number of crashes involving big-rig trucks on the traffic-choked Los Angeles Avenue portion of Highway 118 is too high, and steps need to be taken to increase safety, a spokesman for Assemblyman Tony Strickland said Wednesday.

Strickland, R-Camarillo, campaigned on the issue last fall after finding it superceded crime and education among top concerns in Moorpark. He has organized a panel of community leaders to discuss the issue at a forum scheduled for tonight at the Moorpark Civic Center.

``This is an effort to get the ball moving on a solution,'' said Joel Angeles, chief of staff for Strickland.

Each day thousands of trucks traveling east and west on Highway 118 use the two-mile portion of Los Angeles Avenue that bisects the city.

Big rigs were involved in eight collisions along the avenue in 1996, 13 in 1997 and eight in the first half of 1998, Angeles said.

He said possible options to improve safety on the avenue could include restricting trucks by weight or allowing them to use only certain lanes. Those are among choices to be discussed tonight.

``We think the status quo should not continue,'' Angeles said. ``We are committed to ensuring that this strip is safe.''

The entire two-lane, 16-mile stretch of Highway 118 from Moorpark to Saticoy is the source of ongoing controversy, with some residents wanting the road expanded to four lanes. Others, including a group called Save our Somis, fear widening the road would attract even more traffic to it and destroy the area's semirural character.

From 1990 to 1997 there were 876 crashes on the highway between Moorpark and Saticoy, including 20 that caused fatalities, officials said.

Last week, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted to ask the California Department of Transportation to scale back plans for more than $11 million in improvements, such as turn lanes, at Somis and near Mesa School on two of the notoriously hazardous sections of the road. The board also asked Caltrans to prepare an environmental report on the impact of road improvements on the surrounding rural and agricultural community.

Contending the work would lead to heavier traffic, scores of SOS supporters turned up at the supervisors' meeting to lobby for scaling back plans. In addition, more than 800 people have signed a petition protesting the proposed work that is slated to begin in 2001.

Angeles said that Strickland supports the supervisors' actions on the highway.

Among those scheduled to attend forum the forum tonight are Assemblyman Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, Joe Ahearn of Moorpark Chamber of Commerce, Moorpark Mayor Patrick Hunter, Shirley Micarelli of the California Trucking Association and county Supervisor Judy Mikels.