By Richard Lieberman –
The City of Ventura’s Olivas Park Drive and Levee Extension Project has reached its halfway point. The $51 million effort began in August 2025 and was expected to take two years to complete. Currently, the project has reached the halfway point and is expected to be completed in summer 2027. The project is expected to improve traffic circulation, improve levee flood protection, and open new business opportunities in East Ventura. It will also improve access to the Ventura Auto Center. This project spans ninety acres of previously undeveloped land. The project will add close to a mile of new roadway. The project will also offer road widening, pavement upgrades, new traffic signals, flood gates, drainage improvements, and landscaping. This project will extend Olivas Park Drive approximately 4,500 feet from Golf Course Drive to Auto Center Drive. As part of the project, the levee and floodwall for the Santa Clara River will be extended 5,400 feet.
Filippin Engineering is managing the project, with Toro Enterprises serving as the primary construction contractor.
Mayor Dr. Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios described the project as an investment in the city’s long-term future, noting that the project is expected to reduce roadway congestion, improve regional access, and support development on more than ninety acres of undeveloped land.
Before construction began, some residents and business owners raised concerns about the project’s impact on the surrounding community. Key objections included long-term road closures and detours, increased traffic on nearby streets, construction noise, and disruption to local businesses; some also questioned the project’s potential environmental effects near the Santa Clara River. Most of these concerns have not materialized during the first year of construction. However, road closures and detours have been inconvenient for some.
City leaders have acknowledged that construction has caused temporary inconveniences but maintain that the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term disruptions. Once completed the new roadway and levee system will provide safer transportation connections and stronger flood protection for generations to come.
During this first year of construction crews were able to remove concrete and asphalt debris from the old levee, grind it and reuse it by turning the material into usable concrete.
“Were about halfway through on the timeline of the project and I think the contractors will stay on schedule,” Alec Roberts, Assistant Public Works Director for the city said. “To be on schedule and on budget at this point in the project is a really good sign,” he added.
Principal Construction Manager Zach Bryant commented on the importance of communicating to property owners and tenants.
“At the onset of the project we communicated with the property owner and the tenants to let them know what was coming and how access was going to go, but they figured out how to get in and out of the affected property,” Bryant said.
Once completed, the project will improve transportation connectivity in East Ventura, and the extension of the levee will provide flood protection and will offer new opportunities for commercial and economic development in the area.
