CA 126 Freeway Possible Still?

[Voyager]

Just looking at Google Maps, it looks like Santa Paula and Fillmore are adding a ton of housing, which of course is going to put more strain on a very important highway connecting 5 and 101. I know originally 126 was going to be a freeway all the way to 14, but do you think a new bypass will be viable in the future? It doesn't look like it has a lot of room to go around Fillmore at the moment however.

[pderocco]

It looks like it would require a new freeway alignment south of existing 126, as was the case in Santa Paula. In Fillmore, it might even have to be a viaduct along the riverbed. It would certainly require taking quite a bit of farmland, but that would affect fewer people than taking hundreds of houses.

Most of 126 east of Fillmore was only two lanes until the late 90s, as you can see in GE historic imagery.

[cahwyguy]

I don't recall seeing anything in the STIP about this, so it would really depend upon what Ventura and their transportation commission (VCTC) want. Ventura has never been in the big build freeways mode, so I would think unless there start to be a lot of accidents in Fillmore, it is unlikely to happen (especially with the state's stated desire to be carbon neutral). If anything, there might be a push to connect Metrolink to the Fillmore and Santa Paula area, as the tracks are already there.

[The Ghostbuster]

I think this ship sailed a long time ago. What exists of CA 126 now is likely as good as it will get.

[Plutonic Panda]

I've made this point a lot and I really wish they would, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Max Rockatansky]

Considering the actually planned freeway through Santa Clarita never happened I'd say there is no chance for Fillmore.

[Quillz]

I'm not sure how necessary it would be. The current Telegraph/Henry Mayo Highways are effectively built to expressway standards as it is, albeit no physical median. But it's wide, has a 55 mph speed limit, and seems like a reasonably safe road.

[pderocco]

I'm not sure how necessary it would be. The current Telegraph/Henry Mayo Highways are effectively built to expressway standards as it is, albeit no physical median. But it's wide, has a 55 mph speed limit, and seems like a reasonably safe road.

The rural parts are 60, but it's always felt dangerous to me without a median. Beautiful valley, though.

[Quillz]

I could see a physical median being constructed in the future. There aren't that many junctions to begin with, the main issue would be where it crosses an active railroad. Any physical median would probably not go past Fillmore, though, as it seems most of the traffic tends to move onto CA-23 at that point.

[GaryA]

I could see a physical median being constructed in the future. There aren't that many junctions to begin with, the main issue would be where it crosses an active railroad. Any physical median would probably not go past Fillmore, though, as it seems most of the traffic tends to move onto CA-23 at that point.

As someone who goes through there regularly, I'd say most of the westbound traffic continues on CA 126, though there is a significant portion turning onto CA 23.  However, at that point you start picking up quite a bit of traffic from Fillmore towards Santa Paula and Ventura, so the section of 126 between Santa Paula and Fillmore is busier than that east of Fillmore (and still not a freeway, that starts at Santa Paula).

It's the section between Santa Paula and Fillmore that they were proposing roundabouts to try to keep speeds under control. That idea looks dead, and the 2017 article said they were going to plan on a concrete median barrier (which I haven't seen, nor heard any updates).