HIGHWAY 118 PROJECT HAS SOMIS RESIDENTS CONCERNED.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Daily News Staff Writer

About 100 residents came from the Somis area Tuesday to voice their opinions on proposed improvements on Highway 118, but went home disappointed when the Board of Supervisors failed to get a quorum.

All five supervisors attended the board's morning session, but only Judy Mikels and Kathy Long turned up after lunch, when staffers were scheduled to present a report on the highway plans. Supervisor Frank Schillo went home ill, and Susan Lacey said she had a previous appointment. Supervisor Joe Flynn did not return phone calls.

The board needs three members for a quorum.

``It was disappointing but sometimes things happen fortuitously and this may be one of them,'' said Barbara Kerkhoff, a member of Save Our Somis, a group that wants to preserve the rural character of the Las Posas Valley.

Many Somis area residents are concerned that improvements could bring even more traffic to the already busy highway.

County staffers are recommending that the board ask Caltrans for a report on the effects of the proposed improvements, including loss of farmland; their impact on riparian and biological resources; the effects on Somis, and the safety of access to and from Mesa School.

And Save Our Somis has submitted petitions with 800 signatures asking that improvements to Highways 118 and 34 be scaled back and that a bypass be built to route traffic around Somis.

Officials say that from 1990 to 1997, the 16-mile, two-lane stretch of Highway 118 between Moorpark and Saticoy was the scene of 876 crashes, including 20 that involved fatalities.

But some residents fear that the improvements at Somis and Mesa School could be the precursor to widening the highway to four lanes, which would destroy the area's rural character and attract even more heavy truck traffic.

Discussion of the Highway 118 project has been rescheduled for the board's April 27 meeting.