Conejo Canyon Bridge (MND 2019-70483) - APN: 667-0-120-160
Mitigated Negative Declarations
The Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA), a joint powers authority consisting of the City of Thousand Oaks (City) and the Conejo Recreation and Park District, and the City’s Public Works Department are proposing the Conejo Canyons Bridge Project (project), composed of a new bridge which would span Arroyo Conejo Creek in Hill Canyon, and an associated access road to connect the eastern side of the new bridge to the existing Hill Canyon Road. The western end of the proposed bridge would be positioned to tie into the existing Hill Canyon fire road which descends into the canyon from the north end of Rancho Conejo Drive. The east end of the proposed bridge would connect to Hill Canyon Road through construction of a short, new access road.
The purpose of the new bridge is to improve access to existing open space areas for outdoor recreationists as well as City and COSCA staff vehicles. Present access into this area of Hill Canyon is provided by three non-connecting routes: (1) the fire road that descends into the south side of the canyon from Rancho Conejo Road; (2) Hill Canyon Road, which extends into the canyon from the north and provides access only to areas on the east and north sides of the channel; and (3) Hill Canyon Trail, which also enters the canyon from the north but provides access only to areas on the west and south sides of the channel. Figure 4 shows the access routes in the vicinity of the project site. The lack of interconnectivity impedes emergency ingress and egress for City and COSCA staff and first responders, impairs COSCA’s ability to efficiently access open space areas for the purposes of maintenance and resource stewardship, and forces open space visitors interested in accessing Wildwood Canyon onto Hill Canyon Road, which was not designed for public pedestrian access. Due to these issues, the bridge was identified in COSCA’s Conejo Canyons Management Plan as a high priority open space amenity for improving public and emergency access (COSCA 2010).