A new I-5 bypass lane in Castaic opened Thursday morning in an effort to speed up northbound traffic by cutting around ongoing construction from Hasley Canyon Road to Parker Road.

The bypass lane sidesteps a $171 million CalTrans pavement repair project ongoing from summer 2017 through summer 2019.

The construction project covers a distance of 15.8 miles parallel to the Santa Clarita Valley,  starting just south of the 5/14 split. Construction work is planned to nearly two miles north of Lake Hughes Road.

The well-travelled part of the 5 freeway, a major thoroughfare for travellers through the Grapevine, was constructed more than 50 years ago, and is no longer able to handle the current amount of traffic through the area, according to CalTrans.

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