VCTC presents Santa Paula Branch Line trail master‑plan update, environmental review work underway

Amanda Fagan, director of planning and sustainability at the Ventura County Transportation Commission, told the Fillmore City Council that VCTC has launched an update to the Santa Paula Branch Line trail master plan and a new programmatic environmental impact report to evaluate a multiuse corridor that could include active rail, a bicycle‑pedestrian trail and related amenities. "The master plan update presents an opportunity to invest in active transportation connections to housing, transit, education and job centers throughout the Santa Clara River Valley," Fagan said.

Fagan reviewed the corridor's history and explained that VCTC purchased the branch line from Southern Pacific in 1995 and has since acquired rights of way stretching roughly 32 miles from Ventura through Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru. The planning team has developed four alternative alignments for evaluation, most of which follow the railroad right of way with some local deviations to accommodate constrained parcels, bridges and crossings.

She acknowledged long‑standing concerns from agricultural stakeholders — including trespass, liability and loss of crossings — and described design and management measures under consideration: indemnification provisions, fencing, controlled farm crossings, temporary closures for agricultural operations and an agricultural stakeholders working group. "Recent engagement with agricultural stakeholders has helped us better understand how the findings from the 2015 compatibility survey apply now," Fagan said.

Council members pressed staff about right‑of‑way widths, the possibility of extending connections into Los Angeles County and the cost and feasibility of pedestrian bridges to cross State Route 126. Fagan said the update will include technical studies, an evaluation methodology, cost estimates for alternatives and recommendations for operations and maintenance; the commission has contracted with WSP to prepare the plan and the programmatic EIR.

Fagan said VCTC has secured federal and regional planning grants to fund the update and is proposing to present the draft plan and EIR for public circulation after the current technical studies are completed. She encouraged residents to sign up on the project website and attend future workshops during public comment periods.

Next steps include finalizing evaluation criteria, analyzing the four alternatives in the draft EIR and holding further stakeholder outreach, including an agricultural working group, before returning a preferred plan to the VCTC commission for consideration.