The value of Balcom Canyon Road as a secondary access between the river valley and Moorpark is great, Long noted, as the only other connector is Grimes Canyon Road. “Do your very best to say to Mother Nature, please be kind. . .the time and the money was worth it but now users have to keep it safe and drive carefully. It’s quite a ride.”“I used to use the road myself quite a bit; my daughter lives in Camarillo and I live in Santa Paula,” said Glenn Derosette, the Balcom Canyon Road project engineer.Derosette said alternatives to road repair were studied, including constructing a bridge over the slide plagued areas before the decision was reached to cut into the side of the mountain to lessen slide activity and repack the earth. The shoulder was widened by about 10-feet, shoulders created and a guardrail installed.So remote is the canyon road with its dazzling cliffs that over the years it became a favored place to abandon vehicles. “They pulled parts from about 25 cars out of the canyon,” said Long. “Even parts from a Model A. . .which h makes me wonder how long it had been down there!”
Ups and downs: Balcom Canyon Road reopens after four years of closure
December 18, 2002
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesBalcom Canyon Road, the two-lane county thoroughfare that winds through the mountains connecting the Santa Clara River Valley and Moorpark, officially reopened after almost four years of pesky commuter detours.The ribbon cutting was held at milepost 4.9, the highest point - about 1,040 feet - on the road where it crosses a ridge offering a view of the valley.“It’s been a long fight,” said Butch Britt, the Ventura County Deputy Director of Public Works.Before it was closed in 1998, about 2,000 vehicles a day traversed Balcom Canyon Road, including residents and ranch workers.In addition, repairing Balcom Canyon Road after the 1998 El Nino storms caused a 200-foot section of road 40-feet down into the canyon, was “the biggest project we’ve done in about 10 years.” Britt noted that work was completed through rainstorms and a bee invasion, as well as detailed reports required by a variety of state and federal agencies.The total cost of the project was about $3.5 million with FEMA contributing about $2.7 million, and “it was worth it,” said Britt.Ventura County became the owner of the road in the late 1800s, when Ventura County split from Santa Barbara County. Balcom Canyon Road was “even on the books back then,” said Britt, although it is hard to imagine journeying it with anything less than a good-sized automobile filled with passengers not afraid of heights.Supervisor Kathy Long and Supervisor Judy Mikels attended the dedication, with Long noting that Balcom Canyon Road is “right at the line of the two supervisorial districts. . .it was a significant project,” requiring engineering know-how and regular oversight “personified by this project.”
