FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Sidewalk and Drainage | Roadway and Right of Way | Traffic | Permits

SIDEWALK & DRAINAGE

Per Ventura County Ordinance 4355, and California Streets and Highways Code (chapter 22) sidewalk maintenance is the responsibility of the property owner. Trees located between the sidewalk and the curb/street are also the responsibility of the property owner. Please see the citizen brochures “Sidewalk and Street Tree Maintenance” & “Sight Distance”.  Work in the road right-of-way, including sidewalk repair or tree maintenance, cannot be done without a permit. Please call the Permits section if you have any questions at (805) 654-2055.

During paving projects, the County uses the County of Ventura Sidewalk Repair Standards to determine which sidewalks are eligible for grinding and which must be replaced.

The location and type of drainage problem will determine whether or not the Ventura County Transportation Department has responsibility for the drainage problem. Please see the citizen brochure “Drainage” for further information.

Maintenance of roadside ditches is shared by the County (when adjacent to public roads) and the property owner (when in front of their property). Ditches which do not accept runoff from public roads are maintained entirely by the property owner. For further information, please see the citizen brochure on “Drainage.”

ROADWAY & RIGHT OF WAY

The Transportation Department maintains roads that have been approved for maintenance by the Board of Supervisors within the County unincorporated areas. A list of County-maintained roads can be found at County-Maintained Roads or by accessing the Transportation Interactive Map.

Private roads, alley ways, and public roads (not accepted for maintenance by the Board of Supervisors) are not under jurisdiction of the Transportation Department. Please visit the following links to Real Estate Services – FAQ-Private Roads or see the citizen brochure “Private Roads.” Contact your respective city for roads within each cities’ jurisdiction. See Transportation Interactive Map for city boundaries.

ounty-maintained roads will be scheduled for resurfacing by a priority ranking system, 1 through 5, with 1 being highest priority, as shown on the Transportation Interactive Map (GIS Web Map service). The Paving Plan is updated on an annual basis and approved by the Board of Supervisors.

To report a pot hole or section of a road that requires immediate attention please use the online complaint form, or contact the Road Maintenance Division at (805) 672-2131.

Roads closed to through traffic due to emergencies are listed on the Transportation Department website; you can find them under “County Road Closures.”

Road Maintenance rarely closes roads due to planned work. If a road closure is required for planned work, doorhangers will be posted. To find what roads are closed visit County Road Closures.

Planned road closures are listed on the Transportation website. You can learn more here.

The County does not provide street-sweeping of County roads. Some neighborhoods have assessed themselves to contract for street-sweeping. For further information, please see the citizen brochure “Street Sweeping, Beach Sand Removal, and Street Lighting.”

All this information is available through the Transportation Interactive Map, the Transportation Department’s GIS Web Map service.

The County of Ventura has a recommended tree list that is available online. Any other varieties should be recommended by a registered landscape architect and may be approved by the Transportation Department. An encroachment permit is required to plant trees in the road right-of-way. The permit application can be found online. Also see brochure “Encroachment Permits”.

A Recommended Street Tree List with the minimum required distances from edge of pavement can be found in the Ventura County Landscape Design Criteria (see Attachment 4).

No. Placing political campaign signs or other such advertisements  or endorsements in the County road right-of-way is a violation of the County Encroachment Ordinance (Division 12 of the Ventura County Ordinance Code). Please refer to the “Notice to Political Candidates.”

Prior to placing an antenna or wireless facility in the road right-of-way, the County ordinance requires a wireless company to notify the property owner. If you have not received notification and would like to report it or obtain more information, please call the County Permits Section at (805) 654-2055.

INFORMATION

Assessor’s maps, record maps, city boundaries and aerial imagery for the County.

The work could be the Transportation Department doing work with our own personnel or by contract. It could also be a utility company working on their system that is in the road right-of-way. For Transportation Department projects, please visit the Transportation Active Project list for active projects, project locations, and project contact information. The Project Manager for each project is identified with their contact information. They have the schedule and can provide specifics.

For work with our own forces, please contact (805) 672-2131 for additional information. For Utility company work, please contact our permits desk at (805) 654-2055. You can also check yourself through the citizen access portal at https://vcca.ventura.org/vcca.aspx.

The County Road fund does not receive property taxes for road maintenance, repair, or operations. The primary funding sources for road services and improvements comes from a portion of gas tax known as Highway User Tax Account (HUTA), developer fees known as Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee’s and Federal grant funding.

Comments or complaints can be submitted via our online form here. You can also call our main office line 5 days a week, 8:00am to 5:00pm, at (805) 654-2049. For after hours emergencies, our Road Maintenance Division can be reached at (805) 650-4099.

TRAFFIC

Law enforcement officers can enforce speed limits on private roads in the unincorporated areas of the County. Please see the brochure “Speed Limit Enforcement on Private Roads.”

Please see the citizen brochure on “Speed Limits” for a brief outline of how and why speed limits are determined, and an explanation of speed limits on roads in the unincorporated areas of the County. For Speed Humps please refer to the question “How can I request speed bumps/humps?” for policy, warrants, petition and application process.

Please see the speed hump packet enclosed for information on the County’s speed hump policy, warrants, petition and application process. Contact the Transportation Department at (805) 654-2049 for additional questions.

Please contact the California Highway Patrol at (805) 477-4100 for speed enforcement on roads in the unincorporated area. For further information regarding speed limits, please see the citizen brochure “Speed Limits.”

Before installing a traffic signal or stop sign at an intersection, established minimum criteria must be satisfied. A review includes: the amount of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, the collision history of the intersection, the proximity to schools, the need to provide interruption to the major flow for side-street vehicles and pedestrians, and special conditions such as hills and curves. Please call (805) 654-2049 to request traffic signals and stop signs. Please see citizen brochure “Traffic Signals” & “Stop Signs”.

No. “Children at Play” and similar signs are not recognized by the State of California or the Federal Highway Administration as official traffic control devices, and therefore are not installed on public streets. For more information, you may call the Transportation Department, Traffic Section, at (805) 654-2049.

Installing signs on County roads by residents is prohibited. Please call the Transportation Department at (805) 654-2049 to request traffic-sign installation.

No-Parking Zones are recommended to facilitate the movement of traffic. The prohibition of parking on residential streets for the convenience of abutting property owners is not generally recommended.

Please call the California Highway Patrol at (805) 477-4100 for enforcement of parking restrictions of oversized vehicles on County roads. For more information please see the citizen brochure ”

On roadways in the unincorporated areas of the County, Chapter 7 of the County Ordinance Code stipulates the following:

Green Zones: It is unlawful to park in any green zone for more than 24 minutes between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. except for Sundays and Holidays (VCOC 7200[d]).

Red Zones: It is unlawful to stop, stand or park in any red zone at any time, except that buses may stop in any red zone which is also marked as a bus loading zone.

Yellow Zones: It is unlawful to stop, stand, or park in any yellow zone except for a reasonable amount of time not exceeding three minutes, for the purposes of loading and unloading of passengers and not exceeding two hours for the purposes of loading and unloading freight between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. except Sundays and Holidays (VCOC 7200[b]).

White Zones: It is unlawful to stop, stand, or park in any white zone except for the purposes of loading or unloading passengers or depositing mail in an adjacent mail box (VCOC 7200[c]).

Blue Markings: No zone to be marked by blue paint (handicapped parking) can be established on County-maintained roadways (VCOC 7205[b]).

Please call CA Highway Patrol at (805) 477-4174 for parking enforcement and removal of abandoned vehicles on County roads between the hours of 8:00am to 5:00pm.

Please call the Transportation Department at (805) 654-2049 to request installation of a crosswalk. For further information on marked crosswalks, please see the citizen brochure “Marked Crosswalks.”

For an explanation of the difference between various crosswalks, please see the citizen brochure “Marked Crosswalks.”

School crossing guards can be requested through the appropriate school district. For more information, please see the citizen brochure Adult Crossing Guards.”