Road Diet Plan For Thousand Oaks Gets Mixed Reaction

THOUSAND OAKS (CBSLA) — Another Southland city is making a move toward a road diet.

As KCAL9/CBS2's Amy Johnson reports, the lane reductions on Avenida de los Arboles in Thousand Oaks are meant to make the street safer but they are also making drivers angrier.

The street is currently three lanes each way but the road diet plan would reduce the lanes down to two.

"I don't think that's a good idea," said neighbor Jenny Rosenberg.

Neighbors like Rosenberg are against the plan that would eliminate one lane each way between Parkview Drive and Westlake Blvd — about three-quarters of a mile.

"Why fix something that's not broken?," asked Rosenberg.

The city's deputy public works director said the roadway is about to be repaved, which means it's the perfect time to change striping. He said the idea of eliminating lanes slows traffic and would provide a larger buffer zone for people walking on the sidewalk. They also want to shrink the lanes down from 12 feet to 11 and make larger bike lanes.

"I think they should make bigger bike lanes," said Matthew Rosenberg.

But his mom's not sure about the consequences.

"Bike lanes are important but what about all the cars that need to get through," said Jenny Rosenberg.

Similar road diets in Mar Vista and Playa del Rey hit major speed bumps — with traffic complaints from drivers and even some business owners saying they hurt the bottom line.

So before anything is finalized in Thousand Oaks they wanted to hear from neighbors.

The city sent out 2,700 letters to neighbors and an announcement in the local paper.

Not everyone is pumping their brakes on the plan.

"I don't have a problem with them doing that," said a neighbor. "There's not really a lot of traffic on that road."

The city says they will do what the neighbors want. The plan will go before the city council in December and if approved the work will begin early next spring.