Path clear for Medea Creek trail repairs

Users of Oak Park’s Medea Creek trail may have noticed work being done along two sections of the walkway during the past few weeks.

The trail, under the jurisdiction of Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, is popular with walkers, joggers and bikers.

A section just southeast of the Oak Park Library is being repaired after erosion led to a 12-foot-deep by 30-foot-wide sinkhole. The area has been roped off.

The $70,000 repair job was delayed due to financial problems with the original contractor. The repair also took time to gain approval from Ventura County and the California Department of Fish and Game. Another holdup is that construction is not permitted from Oct. 15 through April 15 due to weather conditions and respect for breeding animals, said Tom Evans, Rancho Simi landscape designer.

Gravel and boulders about 12 to 18 inches in diameter are being compacted into the hole to prevent further erosion in the event of flooding. About 50 feet of the path is being repaved.

Evans estimates the project will be completed in two to three weeks. Barricades and safety measures are in place for those who use the trail, he said.

Another section of Medea Creek trail—the portion of the path that runs near the Oak Park High School stadium and its adjacent practice fields—is being affected by a separate project.

Approximately 600 cubic yards of dirt that had been dug up during the current high school parking lot repaving job was dispersed 3 to 4 inches deep over one of the practice fields that wasn’t being used. Transporting the dirt to another location would have taken about 300 truckloads and cost the district as much as $25,000.

The $1 million parking lot grading project included areas by the tennis and basketball courts.

Also, a large section of the school lawn area had to be dug up to accommodate a new pickup and dropoff area in front of the campus. The parking lot work at both the high school and Brookside Elementary School is paid for by the Measure R school bond, passed by voters last November.

The unused field near the high school has been watered and seeded with native plants to minimize dust, said Martin Klauss, Oak Park’s assistant superintendent.

“The field belongs to the high school, but it’s never been used for anything,” Klauss said. “The dirt had to go somewhere.”