Street closures surprise motorists
as Highway 150 Caltrans project starts

September 04, 2015
Santa Paula News

The overdue Highway 150 Caltrans slurry project started Monday and Wednesday saw the main thoroughfare shut down for work not the lane closures that were expected.

Within the area shut down were the Santa Paula Police Department and the Santa Paula Fire Station 1, both on South 10th Street between East Harvard Boulevard and Main Street.

The project, initially scheduled for mid-July with a completion set for mid-August, is to resurface the north-south running highway with new blacktop from 0.1-mile north of Stonegate Road to 0.1 mile south of East Harvard Boulevard, in all about 2.5 miles. The entire stretch targeted for the work is inside city limits.

A previous announcement by a Caltrans representative was that there would be alternate lane closures during the project but not a rerouting of traffic to detours.

That’s what occurred Wednesday catching motorists and the city by surprise when there was a complete shutdown and no one-way traffic control on the stretch of 10th Street/Highway 150 being worked on.

City Councilwoman Jenny Crosswhite posted a notice last week on her Facebook page about the signage that appeared on streets adjacent of Highway 150.

Wrote Crosswhite: “If you have been seeing the ‘No Parking’ signs on the 150 and are wondering what’s going on, Caltrans will be starting to slurry seal the 150 beginning Monday, August 31. The project is scheduled for completion on Friday, September 18.

According to Caltrans, there will be flagging and lane closures during the duration of the project.

The hours of work are scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.”

On Wednesday minutes before work began, Crosswhite posted: “Please be advised of the following traffic notice issued by Caltrans today:

“The Contractor will be working between Harvard Blvd. and Main Street on 10th Street and will be closing this section of Highway 150 today. The following are the detours that will be used during the operation (from 9:00AM to 3:00 PM):

NB 10th Street Detour

West (right) on Harvard Blvd, North (left) on 12th Street, East (left) on Main Street.

SB 10th Street Detour

East (right) on Main Street, South (left) on 8th Street, West (left) on Harvard Blvd.” Work on this stretch of Highway 150 is completed.

Interim Public Works Director Brian Yanez said the city is communicating with Caltrans to determine exactly what the scope of work entails — such as lane closures versus street closures — and to request more timely notifications.

The roadway is the major access to the city for residents living north of Santa Paula Street and one of only two thoroughfares to Ojai.

The project will concentrate on slurry sealing and dugouts — areas where water pools — to improve the smoothness of the pavement. 

The cost of the Department of Transportation project is $487,000.





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