FREEWAY SIGNS WILL ALERT DRIVERS TO TRAFFIC SNARLS.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

Ventura Freeway motorists will get high-tech warning of hazards, traffic jams and other problems up ahead when Caltrans installs three electronic message signs along the freeway.

The California Transportation Commission approved $960,000 to install three signs on the north- and southbound sides of the freeway, between Thousand Oaks and Ventura, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli said.

``They will be up and running sometime in 1998, but since at this point we don't have a contractor, we can't say when,'' Tiritilli said.

``The 101 Freeway between Ventura and Thousand Oaks is awful. The drivers that drive on it need all the help they can get and the message boards will be invaluable for the commuter,'' said Fillmore Mayor Roger Campbell, who sits on the county commission.

Signs will be installed on the northbound side of the freeway north of Westlake Boulevard and south of Victoria Avenue, she said. The third will be placed on the southbound side of the freeway south of Vista del Mar.

Once installed, the freeway will have four of the signs. In 1994, Caltrans installed a sign on the freeway near the Moorpark Freeway - much to the consternation of some Thousand Oaks city officials, who said the city has been trying to prevent a proliferation of signs and didn't want another.

Each of the signs will include a close circuit television camera, a surveillance station to note traffic volume and congestion and a microwave system linking these with Caltrans' Traffic Management Center, Caltrans said.

According to Caltrans, an average of 105,000 vehicles travel the Ventura Freeway through Ventura County each day in both directions. That number jumps to about 109,500 on Saturdays, Caltrans said.