Pop-up demonstration will simulate curb extensions and median changes before permanent construction decisions
(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) — Orange cones and tape will transform the intersection of Sycamore Drive and Cochran Street on May 27. The four-hour setup could determine how that corner looks for years to come.
The Ventura County Transportation Commission will install a temporary traffic calming demonstration at the intersection from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., testing street safety improvements before anyone commits to permanent construction. Crews will use cones and tape to simulate curb bulbs and median extensions that narrow the roadway and force drivers to slow their turns.
The demonstration targets a real problem. VCTC analyzed five years of crash data from 2018 through 2022 and found Simi Valley scored higher than the county average on two measures: the share of bike and pedestrian crashes that resulted in fatal or severe injuries, and the share that involved trucks.
Engineers identified the Sycamore and Cochran intersection through data analysis rather than previous city planning. The corner sits where a Class 3 bike route on Sycamore Drive meets Cochran Street, which has no existing bike facilities. On Class 3 routes, bikes and cars share the road, with arrows marking the preferred lane position for cyclists.
On a street like Cochran, speed turns missing infrastructure into a hazard for cyclists and the pedestrians crossing around them. A pedestrian struck by a car at 25 mph faces roughly a 25 percent chance of fatal or severe injury. At 30 mph that figure reaches 50 percent. At 50 mph it climbs to 90 percent.
The temporary curb bulbs will widen sidewalks at corners and shorten crossing distances for pedestrians. Median extensions will narrow the roadway and tighten turning radius for vehicles. The changes do not guarantee drivers slow down, but they make slowing the path of least resistance.
"Pop-up demonstrations provide communities with a hands-on opportunity to experience potential roadway safety improvements before permanent changes are considered," said Anthony Gallo, senior engineer with the City of Simi Valley. "Community feedback is an important part of the process and will help inform future safety enhancements."
Simi Valley is one of three sites selected countywide after a four-stage screening process. Engineers weighed crash history, pedestrian and cyclist traffic volumes, proximity to communities, existing bike infrastructure, and whether local city departments could staff the events.
Ventura will host a 30-day installation along the San Nicholas Greenway between MacMillan Avenue and Jordan Avenue featuring traffic circles and curb radius reductions. Oxnard will test a temporary protected bike lane along West Wooley Road for more than a mile using over 800 cones and roughly 15,000 linear feet of striping.
The broader Community Traffic Calming and Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program operates on a $570,000 budget funded through a Southern California Association of Governments regional planning grant. The program pairs physical demonstrations with public safety education targeting three behaviors crash data identified as primary collision causes: wrong-way bicycle riding, e-bike speed, and unsafe driving speeds.
Wrong-way riding causes more bicycle crashes in Ventura County than any other factor, according to the program's technical analysis. Nearby Moorpark was flagged for having higher-than-county-average rates of collisions caused by cyclists riding against traffic.
The May 27 event doubles as data collection. A radar surveyor will track vehicle turning speeds before and during the demonstration. Video cameras will log eight hours of pedestrian-vehicle interactions. Visitors can complete surveys about safety concerns while walking or biking, unsafe behaviors they have witnessed at the site, and their experience with the demonstration.
That data feeds directly into permanent decisions. Engineers plan to bring project recommendations to the VCTC board for approval in fall 2026. The temporary installations provide the evidence base for those choices.
The demonstration invites input from anyone who uses the corner on foot, by bike, or by car. Residents and commuters can see what a different version of the intersection might feel like and share their observations with engineers making long-term safety decisions.
More information and the community survey are available at tinyurl.com/VCTCPopUps. Questions can be sent to SimiPSP@goventura.org.
