City needs gas station's land to modify street
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

The city plans to widen Spring Road and install railroad crossing gates at the corner of High Street and Princeton Avenue to improve safety for motorists and pedestrians.

Overall, the project will create dedicated left and right turn lanes and two through lanes on Spring Road, which will eventually link Los Angeles Avenue to Walnut Canyon for passenger vehicles.

The railroad crossing will have gates on both sides and there will be a raised median (divider) extending from the crossing to High Street to prevent unsafe left turn movements, said Yugal Lall, city engineer and public works director for Moorpark.

To complete the project, the city must acquire an18feet rightof-way from the 76 Gas Station, at the corner of Spring Road and Princeton, Avenue.

"At this point our discussions are with the property owner, which is ConocoPhillips," said Barry Hogan, community development director for Moorpark.

ConocoPhillips is the thirdlargest integrated energy company and the secondlargest refiner in the United States. The Union 76 brand is owned by ConocoPhillips.

ConocoPhillips representatives seem to understand the need for the improvements and they seem willing to work with the city to accomplish what needs to be done, he said.

If the city takes 18 feet from the property, there will be some modifications that need to be made to the parking of the gas station, Lall said. The pumps will not be affected, but the sign will have to be relocated, he said.

The city could use eminent domain, but officials said they don't want to do that. "The city still needs to do an appraisal and negotiate with the landowner, Lall said.

Once the city has acquired the necessary rightofway construction is expected to begin sometime in the second quarter of 2008.

But Shiper Schowdhury, who owns of the gas station and car repair facility on the land in question, said he's concerned that his business will be impacted by the changes.

New gas stations in town have already taken some of his customer base, he said.

"Moorpark is small, and my customer base is primarily in downtown," he said.

While car traffic on Spring Road could increase by about 20 to 30 percent once the project is done, the new divider could discourage some of his customers from using the station, Schowdhury said.

Since Schowdhury owns the business, but not the land, he will not receive any direct fiscal compensation from the city for the loss of land space.

But city officials indicated the increased traffic will make up for the potential losses.

Trucks won't be allowed to use the alternate path- they will have to remain on Moorpark Avenue to use Highway 23.