ROADWAY SHORTCUT OPPONENTS PRAISE REJECTION OF PLAN.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

You can fight City Hall and win - or, so said council member Andy Fox after the council voted unanimously against cutting through a cul-de-sac and connecting La Granada Drive through to Conejo School Road.

``Because of a strong showing at the grass-roots level, a staff-recommended change was overturned,'' Fox said Wednesday. ``People like this - concerned for their neighborhood, but also looking at the community as a whole - are the heart and soul of Thousand Oaks.''

More than 150 residents turned up at Tuesday's City Council meeting, their presence serving to demonstrate their concerns about a change that would bring more traffic to the neighborhood.

The proposed extension would have relieved traffic along Erbes Road and would have given residents an alternative route south to East Hillcrest Drive, according to city traffic engineers.

Many area residents worried, however, that the change would not only increase traffic, but also make an already busy street more dangerous to nearby schoolchildren. More than 500 children attend two schools at the intersection of Erbes Road and La Granada Drive.

``It's already too busy. Even with a crossing guard posted, you hear brakes screeching,'' said Alison Watase, who lives in the neighborhood just above La Granada Drive and whose two children attend Meadows Elementary School on that street. ``It would have been a convenience for residents because it would have created a shortcut down to East Hillcrest Drive, but safety is more important.''

Up to 7,200 vehicles cruise La Granada each day, according to city traffic reports. City traffic engineers estimated that about 2,500 drivers would have used the extension.

Watase, along with other parents whose children attend the two schools, had written the council to warn against the change.

So many concerned parents and residents arrived at Tuesday's meeting that the council did not even listen to comments on the issue, but went straight to the vote.

``It's nice to see that the City Council listens,'' Watase said Wednesday. ``And it's also nice to see that a neighborhood can band together and work to keep the quality we have here.''

Councilwoman Linda Parks, who had requested that a scheduled Dec. 10 discussion of the road change be postponed until after the holidays, felt vindicated by the turnout.

``We needed to schedule it at a time when people could come,'' Parks said. ``The two weeks before Christmas are so hectic, it's a hard time for people to participate.''

The council also voted 4-1 not to widen Erbes Road between Fallmouth Street and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The widening would have required the removal of several ancient oaks, according to city plans, and residents argued that changes would alter the road's semirural character.