MOORPARK : Caltrans OKs Bicycle Lane on Freeway

Bicyclists who must negotiate a stretch of dangerous road to pedal between Moorpark and Thousand Oaks may soon have a lane of their own on the Moorpark Freeway, Caltrans officials have decided.

State transportation officials gave a green light last week for converting two miles of the freeway shoulder between Tierra Rejada and Olsen roads into a bike lane.

The project should cost between $40,000 and $70,000, said Peter Hsu, a senior project engineer with Caltrans.

Hsu said officials are “pretty confident” that the money to complete the bikeway will be found in an already approved small projects fund.

To accommodate bicyclists, standard drainage grates must be replaced by grates that cannot catch a bicycle wheel, the shoulder must be widened in a few spots and signs will have to be added.

When completed, the bicycle lane will allow cyclists to avoid a dangerous two-mile stretch of Moorpark Road, said Craig Primo, an aide to Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), who supported the bike lane.

Although rarely approved, freeway bicycle lanes have been built where safe alternatives are unavailable, Primo said.

Examples include the portion of the Ventura Freeway between Parkway Calabasas and Malibu Canyon, and another segment between the cities of Ventura and Santa Barbara.