Renewing Warnings About ‘Blood Alley’

If helicopters, nightmare headlines and tougher traffic laws can’t do it, maybe key chains, coffee mugs and informational leaflets can.

So goes the thinking of a coalition of state and local officials working to improve safety on Ventura County’s own “Blood Alley”--California 126.

The group today will launch a $280,000 public information campaign to boost awareness of the still-hazardous road before the three-day Memorial Day weekend hits.

After all, officials said Tuesday, while it is easy to blame a 5.4-mile construction zone for 11 fatal accidents over a five-week period last winter, driver error--falling asleep, trying to pass on double yellow lines, drunk driving or speeding--had a hand in every crash.

“Everybody already knows that you’ve got to pay attention when you drive,” said local California Highway Patrol spokesman David Cockrill.

But sometimes they forget. And since beefed-up patrols and speed limit reductions have helped limit fatalities to one since the fatal rash of accidents in December and January, officials want to get public awareness percolating again.

That’s where the likes of coffee mugs come in.

“This is the long-range piece to keep that consciousness raised,” County Supervisor Kathy Long said.

Construction work on the roadway could be complete by the end of the year. Ironically, it was 49 deaths and 825 injuries over five years on California 126 that prompted the $11.4-million road-widening project in December 1995.

Since the CHP boosted enforcement on the roadway this year, officers have cited or given warnings to 2,500 drivers, said Capt. Dave Kissinger, the CHP’s Ventura area commander.

The public awareness campaign will be unveiled today during an 11 a.m. news conference at the Fillmore Unified School District office, 627 Sespe Ave.