The crack on Foothill Rd. was quickly filled. Photo by: Brynn Kightlinger

Road closure on Foothill Rd. created traffic and made many students late to school

On March 5, 2024, Foothill Road experienced road closure due to a large crack in the side of the road. This road closure caused many drivers to be redirected, which led to heavy traffic. As a result, many students and teachers were late to school. Many drivers believed this crack to be the beginning of a sinkhole. However, the crisis was averted when the crack was eventually filled and repaired the following day. 

Many students, teachers and other citizens of Ventura commute on Foothill Rd. every day to get to school. When the road was cracked and closed, commuters were stuck in 20 minutes of heavy traffic to be redirected through different neighborhoods. This detour created an inconvenience for everyone affected.

Not only were students tardy, but teachers were missing from their classes too. Ramona Cavalheiro ‘27 said, “We had a substitute in class that day and he ended up being late because of the traffic on Foothill, so we had to get a substitute for the substitute.”

Many drivers and passengers were frustrated due to the lengths they had to travel just to avoid Foothill Rd. For many commuters, the traffic caused up to 30 minutes of detours around town. “I was about 20 minutes late to school and everyone in the car was really upset and angry because we had to turn around and take a different route,” said Ashlyn Seymour ‘27. 

“I was also 20 minutes late to school because of the traffic. My dad had to drive a special route, and it caused a very big conflict in the car,” said Grace Feeney ‘27.

This was the case among a large sum of students, teachers and many other commuters on their way to work.

Many classrooms were half-full during the course of second period due to the traffic. “There was barely anybody in the class because everyone was really tardy,” said Cavalheiro.

Due to frequent rainy weather, there have been many issues with roads weathering. Weathering is caused by water dissolved minerals in the rock, leaving residue and open spaces within the rock. For about a week, there were cones surrounding a large piece of road on Foothill Rd. as a warning for drivers to avoid the crack that weathering had caused.