HIGHWAY PLANS WILL BE DISCUSSED AT MEETING.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer

SOMIS - Realigning Donlon Road with Somis Road, adding turn lanes, upgrading traffic signals and widening Somis Road are among proposals to improve traffic flow at the intersection of Highway 118 and Somis Road.

But the latest Caltrans plan for improving the intersection is essentially the same as one the Ventura County Board of Supervisors last year urged the agency to scale back.

That plan has riled some residents of Las Posas Valley, who fear the plans are part of a larger push by Caltrans to expand Highway 118, thereby drawing more traffic and destroying the area's rural character.

``Our concern is that if they widen the 118/34 intersection to the size they're proposing it will encourage them to ultimately widen the 34 to Somis to link up with the bigger intersections going to the 101 Freeway,'' said Barbara Kerkhoff, one of the leaders of Save Our Somis, an organization that opposes the plan.

Caltrans will hold a public meeting tonight at Somis Elementary School to allow public comment on the environmental study that is required by state law for the project to proceed.

Last year, the Board of Supervisors asked Caltrans to scale back the project following protests from residents opposed to Caltrans' plans.

But the Caltrans engineer in charge of the $5.9 million project said Wednesday the agency considered and rejected alternatives such as a roundabout and bypass and scaling back the original plan because the current plan is better able to accommodate traffic and is less costly.

``In essence it hasn't changed from what was proposed last year,'' said Abdi Saghafi, the Caltrans project manager in charge of work on Highway 118 in Ventura County.

The major element of the board's scale-back request was for Caltrans to eliminate one of two left-turn lanes for westbound traffic exiting Highway 118 south to Somis Road, also known as Highway 34. But Caltrans decided to retain that lane.

``Due to the existing traffic counts, we need two left-hand turn pockets to accommodate the number of vehicles turning south on the 34,'' said Saghafi.

The Caltrans plan includes:

--Realigning Donlon Road with Somis Road;

--Adding two left-turn pockets on Highway 118 for westbound traffic to exit south to Somis Road;

--Adding one left-turn pocket for eastbound traffic to exit north to Donlon Road and one right-turn pocket for eastbound traffic to exit south to Somis Road;

--Widening Somis Road immediately south of the intersection to allow westbound traffic on Highway 118 that has exited to Somis Road to merge more easily with other southbound traffic;

--Upgrading signal lights.

COMMENT INVITED

Caltrans will hold a public meeting tonight to discuss improvements for the intersection of Highway 118 and Somis Road.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the cafeteria at Somis Elementary School, 5268 North Street, Somis.

People unable to attend can mail comments to Ronald Kosinski, Chief Office of Environmental Planning (Ven - 118/34 Intersection Improvement with Donlon Road), Caltrans, 120 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Comments must be received by May 9.

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Box: Comment Invited (see text)