August in Ventura County, Calif., rings in the new school year; thoughts turn to academics, extracurricular activities, sports and … construction? Beginning in late July of 2025, the Telegraph Road Resurfacing Project swarmed the zone with traffic cones and road work signs, congesting one of Ventura’s busiest streets. For bus drivers — those who must experience the worst of it every day — the execution of the construction has become a common point of frustration.
“It’s pretty bad, especially on peak hours,” Manuel Muñoz, operator for Gold Coast Transit, said. “They put a lot of cones … it makes everything so congested.”
Many Gold Coast Transit routes go along Telegraph Road — the 21, the 10 and the 6 line — and with daily commuters and students, the street is already bustling in ordinary conditions. However, the addition of construction, machinery, cones and lane closures has intensified the traffic. “Sometimes, you have the [traffic] lights out, and everyone just honking at each other,” Samantha Sepulveda, another operator for Gold Coast Transit, described.
“I think [the city] should have done construction … when kids aren’t at school … or [at] nighttime,” Muñoz said. Although the Ventura County Public Works project outline mentions possible nighttime roadwork, the current timing of the construction suggests otherwise. Project construction manager Jason Dane predicted night work to begin in November, if the weather permits. “Long-term benefits outweigh the short-term inconveniences,” Dane said.
Sepulveda shared a similar sentiment with Muñoz. “[The city] should have done it during the summertime,” she said. “Now [that] school is in session, it’s a burden for the bus drivers and the people who go to school.”
“We’re picking up kids and [construction is] making us late,” Muñoz said. “A lot of kids get left behind, and it’s really hard.” Stationed across Telegraph Road, Buena High School, Foothill Technology High School, Balboa Middle School, Mound Elementary School and Ventura College harbor thousands of students, many of whom use bus routes to commute. “You just see them running,” Sepulveda explained. “You see them sitting down frustrated … it’s the city’s fault.”
“Our tax dollars don’t even go to the roads because they’re horrible,” Sepulveda expressed. “I work long shifts, 10 hours, and I’m here basically six days out of the week … I’m driving constantly through that road,” she said.
The most recent pavement condition index (PCI) score for Ventura was 66, in the “at risk” category, with many surface streets being highlighted as “poor” quality.
Outlined in the resurfacing project plan, the construction is expected to be completed in January 2026 and result in “new pavement, ADA-compliant sidewalk and curb improvements, upgraded pedestrian crossings, buffered bike lanes and drought-tolerant median landscaping.”
