Route 1/Rice Avenue in Oxnard

[RZF]

IMO, Caltrans (and D7 for that matter) need to get going on this faster. The lack of signage not only affects southbound traffic on US-101, but it especially affects northbound traffic on SR-1. PCH is well-traveled arterial to get into LA from southern Ventura County instead of the 101. When people are coming into the Oxnard area, they must be confused as to where the SR-1 signage vanished. That's what it basically does. Once the freeway portion ends at Pleasant Valley Rd, there is no more signage at all, not even once you hit the 101.

Southbound traffic from US-101 also needs easier signage for those who need to get to Malibu/Pacific Palisades/Santa Monica as well.

[djsekani]

IMO, Caltrans (and D7 for that matter) need to get going on this faster. The lack of signage not only affects southbound traffic on US-101, but it especially affects northbound traffic on SR-1. PCH is well-traveled arterial to get into LA from southern Ventura County instead of the 101. When people are coming into the Oxnard area, they must be confused as to where the SR-1 signage vanished. That's what it basically does. Once the freeway portion ends at Pleasant Valley Rd, there is no more signage at all, not even once you hit the 101.

Southbound traffic from US-101 also needs easier signage for those who need to get to Malibu/Pacific Palisades/Santa Monica as well.

No one cares about proper signage but us road geeks; your average traveler is just using Waze or something similar.

If they're mounted high on signal masts, they'll probably stay there until they fall off on their own!   

So true; there are still Business CA 30 and Business CA 18 shields scattered around parts of San Bernardino.

[TheStranger]

IMO, Caltrans (and D7 for that matter) need to get going on this faster. The lack of signage not only affects southbound traffic on US-101, but it especially affects northbound traffic on SR-1. PCH is well-traveled arterial to get into LA from southern Ventura County instead of the 101. When people are coming into the Oxnard area, they must be confused as to where the SR-1 signage vanished. That's what it basically does. Once the freeway portion ends at Pleasant Valley Rd, there is no more signage at all, not even once you hit the 101.

Southbound traffic from US-101 also needs easier signage for those who need to get to Malibu/Pacific Palisades/Santa Monica as well.

No one cares about proper signage but us road geeks; your average traveler is just using Waze or something similar.

To be fair, doesn't Waze use route numbers?  In which case, while it can point to either "US 101 to Oxnard Blvd to Route 1" or "US 101 Rice Ave to Route 1", there is still some value in simplifying the directions to "US 101 to Route 1".

[GaryA]

IMO, Caltrans (and D7 for that matter) need to get going on this faster. The lack of signage not only affects southbound traffic on US-101, but it especially affects northbound traffic on SR-1. PCH is well-traveled arterial to get into LA from southern Ventura County instead of the 101. When people are coming into the Oxnard area, they must be confused as to where the SR-1 signage vanished. That's what it basically does. Once the freeway portion ends at Pleasant Valley Rd, there is no more signage at all, not even once you hit the 101.

Southbound traffic from US-101 also needs easier signage for those who need to get to Malibu/Pacific Palisades/Santa Monica as well.

No one cares about proper signage but us road geeks; your average traveler is just using Waze or something similar.

To be fair, doesn't Waze use route numbers?  In which case, while it can point to either "US 101 to Oxnard Blvd to Route 1" or "US 101 Rice Ave to Route 1", there is still some value in simplifying the directions to "US 101 to Route 1".

The navigation offered by Google Maps tells me to take US 101 north to Route 1 -- but they mean Oxnard Blvd, not Rice Ave.   

[djsekani]

IMO, Caltrans (and D7 for that matter) need to get going on this faster. The lack of signage not only affects southbound traffic on US-101, but it especially affects northbound traffic on SR-1. PCH is well-traveled arterial to get into LA from southern Ventura County instead of the 101. When people are coming into the Oxnard area, they must be confused as to where the SR-1 signage vanished. That's what it basically does. Once the freeway portion ends at Pleasant Valley Rd, there is no more signage at all, not even once you hit the 101.

Southbound traffic from US-101 also needs easier signage for those who need to get to Malibu/Pacific Palisades/Santa Monica as well.

No one cares about proper signage but us road geeks; your average traveler is just using Waze or something similar.

To be fair, doesn't Waze use route numbers?  In which case, while it can point to either "US 101 to Oxnard Blvd to Route 1" or "US 101 Rice Ave to Route 1", there is still some value in simplifying the directions to "US 101 to Route 1".

Waze uses whatever its editors add in. Sometimes that involves route numbers, sometimes it doesn't. I think it's based more on the nomenclature the locals are using as opposed to what's on Caltrans' books.

Google Maps uses route numbers far more often, so there can be issues, but I haven't run into a situation yet where it caused a legitimate navigation problem.

[TheStranger]

As a counterpoint to how Rice/Route 1 is signed in Oxnard:

I drove up all of 101 between Ventura and San Jose today and made a quick stop in San Luis Obispo at one point...where many of the local little green signs pointing back to the freeway DO completely acknowledge the 1 and 101 currency in town.

[AndyMax25]

So I finally got a reply from D7 about this. Of all the 13 items identified on the original memo (https://tinyurl.com/theueth), they said that only 4 overlays can be done at this time. See install order here: https://tinyurl.com/wd46hb3.  They felt that the other items would require more substantial changes, such as full sign replacement, larger truss, or excavation required for a new roadside sign. At least it's something.

As a part 2, I'll be putting together similar recommendations for the Rice/Oxnard/Pleasant Valley interchange which I believe has similar deficiencies.  Please send me any comments you may have on this location.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1640937,-119.1454786,15.58z

Thanks everyone.

[TheStranger]

As a part 2, I'll be putting together similar recommendations for the Rice/Oxnard/Pleasant Valley interchange which I believe has similar deficiencies.  Please send me any comments you may have on this location.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1640937,-119.1454786,15.58z

Thanks everyone.

Going from the northbound side, even a simple trailblazer-and-arrow setup at the split (with the arrow pointing towards the carriageway leading into Rice) would be a vast improvement over what currently exists.

The exit distance sign about a half mile south of the Pleasant Valley exit seems to still be pointing towards the Channel Islands Boulevard exit off former Route 1, and not the current Rice/Channel Islands intersection.  IMO that should be replaced outright with a "Route 1 to US 101 - Rice Avenue - Left 2 lanes" sign.

[Max Rockatansky]

I was under the impression that Caltrans wouldn't assume maintenance of Rice Avenue until improvements are made like the CA 34 rail overpass?

[sparker]

I was under the impression that Caltrans wouldn't assume maintenance of Rice Avenue until improvements are made like the CA 34 rail overpass?

So exactly what agency will be fiscally responsible for the construction of said overpass as well as any other improvements to Rice Avenue necessary for state acquisition?   For Ventura County it may be a matter of six of one/half-dozen of the other -- they'll be able to shift road maintenance away from themselves -- but at the cost of a steep one-time construction expense (bridges ain't cheap!) -- but much of which will be funded through Caltrans in any case (just look at the contents of the last several STIPs).   It's probably more of a matter of prioritization than anything else -- and AFAIK aside from the usual maintenance and spot improvements, that area has nothing particularly big on the horizon (the Rincon upgrade of US 101 was the last "major" project -- if one doesn't count the various manifestations of Caltrans' current roundabout madness!).   But this being CA, there's almost always some sticking point lurking somewhere that prevents projects from being expedited; and D7 has other fish to fry -- the CA 71 Pomona upgrade, the Gerald Desmond bridge replacement, etc.   I suppose someone in the district office figures that since NB CA 1 traffic already segues right onto Rice, everything else can proceed in a leisurely fashion.  Personally, I think the least they can do is erect appropriate signage on SB 101 approaching the Rice interchange and place "TO CA 1" trailblazer signage along SB and, similarly,  "TO US 101" NB.   At least that would be a step in the correct direction.       

[mrsman]

I agree with sparker.  The least that caltrans or Ventura county could do is put up appropriate signage guiding travelers northbound to 101 and southbound to 1 along rice avenue.  Such signage doesn't in any way imply maintenance responsibilities but would simply guide people to their proper destination.  You don't even have to be standard trail blazers.  All around the city of Los Angeles there are guide signs guiding people towards freeways but in no way would anyone assume that those roads are themselves under State maintenance.  One example that comes to mind are guide signs along la Brea avenue directing people on to either sunset Hollywood or Franklin to get to the 101 freeway.  Similarly there are plenty a guide signs along Ventura boulevard guiding people to the 101 freeway.  Signs like those would not be confused with with a state maintenance responsibility.

Nexus 5X

[JustDrive]

Looks like CA 34 no longer reaches Oxnard Blvd. There's an END 34 sign on 5th Street just west of Rice Avenue, well within the city limits. I'm assuming the future connector between 5th and Rice will be in the southwest quadrant?

[Max Rockatansky]

Looks like CA 34 no longer reaches Oxnard Blvd. There's an END 34 sign on 5th Street just west of Rice Avenue, well within the city limits. I'm assuming the future connector between 5th and Rice will be in the southwest quadrant?

34 apparently is relinquished all the way back to Rice but Oxnard has continued to sign it or maintains the signs anyways. 

[RZF]

D7 should look into putting up signs directing traffic into Oxnard off Rice Ave too. For example, going NB on Rice Ave (CA 1), there should be a "Channel Islands Harbor/Beaches NEXT LEFT" at the Channel Islands Blvd. intersection or a "Downtown Oxnard NEXT LEFT" at the 5th St./CA 34 intersection.

[sparker]

D7 should look into putting up signs directing traffic into Oxnard off Rice Ave too. For example, going NB on Rice Ave (CA 1), there should be a "Channel Islands Harbor/Beaches NEXT LEFT" at the Channel Islands Blvd. intersection or a "Downtown Oxnard NEXT LEFT" at the 5th St./CA 34 intersection.

D7 (or any Caltrans district for that matter) wouldn't have say in signage until they take formal possession of the road in question; AFAIK they still haven't adopted Rice Ave. into the state system north of the interchange with the remaining portion of actual CA 1 (PCH).  Either the cities of Oxnard or Camarillo or, alternately, Ventura County in any unincorporated zones, would be responsible for such signage.  That being said, the appropriate jurisdiction(s) can request that D7's sign shop fabricate signage, but the locals would have to pay for the signs and their crews would need to install them.  With most CA counties perennially scrambling to find funds for their normal operations, this would likely be well down the priority list.  Signage such as suggested above will in all likelihood have to wait until such time as Rice Ave. is formally commissioned as a state facility.

[GaryA]

Looks like CA 34 no longer reaches Oxnard Blvd. There's an END 34 sign on 5th Street just west of Rice Avenue, well within the city limits. I'm assuming the future connector between 5th and Rice will be in the southwest quadrant?

34 apparently is relinquished all the way back to Rice but Oxnard has continued to sign it or maintains the signs anyways.

Well, there used to be a trailblazer or two along the relinquished portion, along with an END sign at Oxnard Blvd (old CA 1),
but those have been removed and the new END sign installed just past Rice.

There are also CA 34 shields on Rice (both NB and SB) with an arrow pointing east.

I don't know why the new END is placed where it is; it might fit with leaving room for a ramp to/from Rice SB.

I just wish Oxnard would repave that section of 5th, especially between Rose and Rice.  It has been accumulating a number of potholes, especially in the eastbound lane.

[sparker]

Looks like CA 34 no longer reaches Oxnard Blvd. There's an END 34 sign on 5th Street just west of Rice Avenue, well within the city limits. I'm assuming the future connector between 5th and Rice will be in the southwest quadrant?

34 apparently is relinquished all the way back to Rice but Oxnard has continued to sign it or maintains the signs anyways.

Well, there used to be a trailblazer or two along the relinquished portion, along with an END sign at Oxnard Blvd (old CA 1),
but those have been removed and the new END sign installed just past Rice.

There are also CA 34 shields on Rice (both NB and SB) with an arrow pointing east.

I don't know why the new END is placed where it is; it might fit with leaving room for a ramp to/from Rice SB.

I just wish Oxnard would repave that section of 5th, especially between Rose and Rice.  It has been accumulating a number of potholes, especially in the eastbound lane.

This indicates that D7 has done everything except formally adopt Rice as the CA 1 alignment.  The supposition that the WB end shield on CA 34 is where it is to accommodate a ramp from an overpass is probably spot on; apparently the principal obstacle to adoption is the grade crossing of the Metrolink track adjoining CA 34/5th Street, which hosts Metrolink, Amtrak, and the occasional UP freight -- in other words, quite a few trains in a 24-hour cycle.  That in itself would pose a regularized backup problem at the site if Rice traffic were to increase as a result of CA 1 signage; hence the likelihood of a bridge over both the tracks and CA 34, necessitating some sort of ramp, whether a single dual-direction signalized connector or a folded diamond for Rice/"future" CA 1. 

[don1991]

As of 2018, Caltrans makes no reference to Rice Avenue as Highway 1 (FEIR for the Rice Avenue / CA-34 UPRR overpass.  (https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/district-7/documents/31780-final-eir-fonsi-051618-a11y.pdf).  Oxnard, in its 2016 community plan, references Rice Avenue as Future CA-1 (https://www.oxnard.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/occtip-final-draft-report-2-15-16x.pdf).   I think Google Maps is jumping the gun by tagging Rice Avenue with a CA-1 shield. 

I hope it happens though.  It would be a logical continuity for CA-1, provide an important freight access route, and allow for a future freeway / expressway to connect the isolated Pacific Coast Freeway to the 101 Freeway.

[sparker]

As of 2018, Caltrans makes no reference to Rice Avenue as Highway 1 (FEIR for the Rice Avenue / CA-34 UPRR overpass.  (https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/district-7/documents/31780-final-eir-fonsi-051618-a11y.pdf).  Oxnard, in its 2016 community plan, references Rice Avenue as Future CA-1 (https://www.oxnard.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/occtip-final-draft-report-2-15-16x.pdf).   I think Google Maps is jumping the gun by tagging Rice Avenue with a CA-1 shield. 

I hope it happens though.  It would be a logical continuity for CA-1, provide an important freight access route, and allow for a future freeway / expressway to connect the isolated Pacific Coast Freeway to the 101 Freeway.

Even considering Caltrans' recent lackadaisical attitude toward route continuity and/or signage, CA 1 over Rice Avenue will, in all likelihood, eventually happen (the PCH interchange revision essentially sealed that deal).  But no particular entity with a stake in the game (D7, Oxnard, Ventura County) seems to be in too much of a rush to actually get it done.  But if/when it happens, I wouldn't count on the CA 1 corridor seeing any limited-access upgrades in the foreseeable future; an improved Rice Avenue with a Metrolink overpass will be considered sufficient, particularly since CA 1 south of Mugu isn't considered a major interregional arterial -- more of a well-utilized recreational route.  Letting travelers know it's there and Rice Ave. is the designated access point will be considered enough; expediting high volumes of through traffic to a 3-lane facility with alternating passing lanes is something that would be counterintuitive with current Caltrans philosophy (and would likely incur the wrath of the Coastal Commission as well!). 

[don1991]

As of 2018, Caltrans makes no reference to Rice Avenue as Highway 1 (FEIR for the Rice Avenue / CA-34 UPRR overpass.  (https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/district-7/documents/31780-final-eir-fonsi-051618-a11y.pdf).  Oxnard, in its 2016 community plan, references Rice Avenue as Future CA-1 (https://www.oxnard.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/occtip-final-draft-report-2-15-16x.pdf).   I think Google Maps is jumping the gun by tagging Rice Avenue with a CA-1 shield. 

I hope it happens though.  It would be a logical continuity for CA-1, provide an important freight access route, and allow for a future freeway / expressway to connect the isolated Pacific Coast Freeway to the 101 Freeway.

Even considering Caltrans' recent lackadaisical attitude toward route continuity and/or signage, CA 1 over Rice Avenue will, in all likelihood, eventually happen (the PCH interchange revision essentially sealed that deal).  But no particular entity with a stake in the game (D7, Oxnard, Ventura County) seems to be in too much of a rush to actually get it done.  But if/when it happens, I wouldn't count on the CA 1 corridor seeing any limited-access upgrades in the foreseeable future; an improved Rice Avenue with a Metrolink overpass will be considered sufficient, particularly since CA 1 south of Mugu isn't considered a major interregional arterial -- more of a well-utilized recreational route.  Letting travelers know it's there and Rice Ave. is the designated access point will be considered enough; expediting high volumes of through traffic to a 3-lane facility with alternating passing lanes is something that would be counterintuitive with current Caltrans philosophy (and would likely incur the wrath of the Coastal Commission as well!).

True.  There is no money or desire for freeway building right now.  It will require a change of political philosophy which is likely decades away.  Things never stay the same forever.

Likely Rice will become CA-1 and then be upgraded over time as needs require.  The RR / CA-34 overpass is a safety upgrade.  The rest will come once the development does.  If Port Hueneme continues to grow as a freight terminal and with it, truck traffic, then the freeway will eventually become required.  Given that most traffic would exist from the 1 Freeway onto Rice Road southbound (towards the Port), I do not see much danger of a lot of traffic clogging up the remainder of the Pacific Coast Freeway down to the 2 to 3 lane portion.  The critical portion would be the 1 Freeway / Rice Road interchange north to the 101 Freeway.

In today's game, freeway building in urban counties only happens if the county wants it.  And since counties control 75% of the few highway dollars that are available, that is key.  So the Ventura County Transportation Commission will have to identify it as a priority.  And, voters will likely have to approve a sales tax for transportation, which so far hasn't been possible.

[TheStranger]

Drove through the area a few days ago and the signage situation has not changed: the Oxnard Boulevard exit signs from US 101 have had the Route 1 shield scraped off, yet the truck guidelines for Route 1 are still posted alongside! 





At Pleasant Valley Road, Oxnard Boulevard southbound still has "Exit 112" signs even though the Oxnard/Pleasant Valley junction is no longer grade-separated.

[Max Rockatansky]

Of note Oxnard Boulevard still appears in the Caltrans Postmile Tool.  I don't if that's an oversight as 34 is shown terminating at Rice. 

[RZF]

I couldn't get a picture yesterday, but as I was driving southbound on the 101 in Ventura, the overhead sign right before the Johnson Dr exit was stripped of the overlaid "Oxnard Blvd" exit. Instead the exit on the BGS is named "Oxnard Coast Hwy". So Caltrans seems to be flip-flopping on updating correct signage for the route, or maybe they are now beginning the process of updating the new signs.

[mrsman]

I couldn't get a picture yesterday, but as I was driving southbound on the 101 in Ventura, the overhead sign right before the Johnson Dr exit was stripped of the overlaid "Oxnard Blvd" exit. Instead the exit on the BGS is named "Oxnard Coast Hwy". So Caltrans seems to be flip-flopping on updating correct signage for the route, or maybe they are now beginning the process of updating the new signs.

It seems clear that they just do not know what they are doing.

It is obvious that they need to sign a connection from PCH to US 101 in the Oxnard area.  The problem is that they do not sign a state highway roads not maintained by Caltrans.  So you are going to have situations where roads are not going to be signed, and it is of no help to the motoring public.

THere are solutions to the problem, but it doesn't seem as if Caltrans is interested:

1) Sign Rice Ave as <1> but put in a county maintained plaque
2) Sign Rice Ave as [1] but the shield is different from the green miner spade so that it doesn't look like a state highway
3) Sign Rice Ave as TO <1> SB and TO {101} NB
4) Sign Rice Ave as TEMP <1>
5) Sign Oxnard Blvd as BUSINESS <1>

There are many roads out there that were once state highway and are now locally controlled that should get signage for continuity purposes.  But CA-1, given how many tourists make the iconic drive from L.A. up the coast, should certainly be prioritized for good signage so that folks don't get lost in Oxnard.

[Max Rockatansky]

Thing is the motoring public doesn't care if Caltrans maintains Rice or not.  A couple CA 1 shields would be more than sufficient on Rice or even the old alignment on Oxnard, who cares who maintains the actual road surface outside of us in the road world?  It is bizarre to me why out here this is such an alien concept when it's common in other states (especially out east).