Palomar Avenue Partly Closed Due to Traffic Buildup

About two months after the Ventura City Council decided to close part of Poli Street to prevent drive-by shootings at Ventura High School, the council is grappling with complaints from residents that the closure has increased traffic in nearby neighborhoods.

The Ventura City Council on Monday voted unanimously to close part of Palomar Avenue to prevent drivers from using the street as a detour. The council also decided to ask high school officials to require that students avoid residential streets when commuting to school.

“Everyone can get in and out of their homes on Palomar,” Ventura traffic engineer Nazir Lalani said before the meeting. Residents, however, would have to make detours because of the closure, Lalani said.

Palomar will be closed during the same period as Poli, from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Poli will be closed until the end of the school year.

The closure of Poli--one of two east-west routes around the campus--has caused traffic to increase on Palomar and other streets to the north, said Public Works Director Ron Calkins. Residents from about 70 houses on Palomar, Hyland Avenue and Fairview Drive have been primarily affected, Calkins said.

According to a staff report, traffic on Palomar Avenue increased the most, going from about 220 to 830 vehicles a day.

Residents have submitted petitions and letters protesting the increased traffic on their street because of Poli’s closure.

Jerry Beckerman, who lives on Hyland, told the council: “There are consequences of closing Poli and we ask that the school and the city act responsibly. . . . The traffic goes quite quickly and puts our children in danger.”

Closing off part of Palomar would divert traffic to Foster Avenue and Sunset Drive and force some traffic onto Main Street, the designated detour, city officials said.

Councilman Jack Tingstrom said: “It’s really too bad. You try to solve one problem and you create six more.”