Calabasas to Fix Bottleneck

The city of Calabasas will attempt a quick fix to reduce traffic jams on Las Virgenes Road, a major artery into the city from the Ventura Freeway.

The City Council approved an $11,000 expenditure Wednesday night that will pay for an engineer to draw up plans for the Las Virgenes Corridor Traffic Circulation Improvement Project.

City officials said the closure of a section of Kanan Road, an increase in the number of cars on the roads and more development in the area has “escalated the bottlenecking of the Las Virgenes Road/Agoura Road intersection,” backing up traffic to the freeway offramps during peak hours.

The program as envisioned by traffic and transportation officials would provide a second through lane on the southbound side of Las Virgenes Road.

Officials said the improvements would be funded in the 1998-99 city budget and using an advance on the city’s gas tax revenue and money from the Lost Hills Bridge and Thoroughfare District, created last year for this and other projects. The new district has not yet collected enough fees from developers to solely fund the project.

The city will eventually repay the gas tax advance from district funds, City Manager Charles Cate said. Other major road improvements are expected to be done in coming years when there are more bridge and thoroughfare district funds.

The interim project, due to begin in the fall, is estimated to cost about $225,000, Cate said.