KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
The location for the event is on The Old Road, directly across the street from Hamburger Hamlet. The City of Santa Clarita, working in partnership with the County of Los Angeles, Caltrans, MTA/METRO and Newhall Land, will begin constructing this multi-million dollar project that will have a huge impact on traffic flow near the Valley’s major work centers.
Completion of this project will help relieve existing and future traffic congestion, including measures to improve safety, increasing roadway capacity to meet future anticipated development and traffic growth.
There are 11 stages factored in to these improvements; the duration of each stage will range from 10 to 100 working days. The goal of “stage construction” is to maintain a minimum of two traffic lanes in each direction throughout the entire construction duration on the mainline, ramps, and local streets. Periods of short-term lane reductions to a single lane in each direction will be minimized and are anticipated to occur only during the transition period between stages.
This multi-faceted and complex project includes the reconstruction of the Interstate 5/Magic Mountain Parkway Interchange and the realignment of The Old Road. This includes reconstruction of all four-freeway ramps, widening of Magic Mountain Parkway from The Old Road to the proposed northbound ramps, necessary tapers on Magic Mountain Parkway to join existing, and realignment and widening of The Old Road from approximately 550 meters south of Magic Mountain Parkway to approximately 450 meters north of Magic Mountain Parkway.
Realignment of The Old Road and Magic Mountain Parkway involves relocation of the Chevron gas station, to be performed by Newhall Land and is scheduled to be completed by early 2007, from its current location to a new location directly west where the new intersection will be located.
The total cost for this project, including design, environmental work, property acquisition and construction is approximately $43.7 million which is primarily being paid for by the Valencia and the proposed Westside Bridge and Thoroughfare Districts through an advancement of funds from Newhall Land ($33.2 million). The Valencia Bridge and Thoroughfare District is a joint District administered by the City of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles. The proposed Westside Bridge and Thoroughfare District will be administered by the County of Los Angeles. The remaining funds for this highly anticipated project are coming from MTA/METRO ($10.5 million). “This project is another great example of a public/private partnership that will enhance the quality of life for all of the residents of our Valley. We want to acknowledge our partners for contributing funding and design/permitting assistance for this much needed project,” commented Mayor Laurene Weste.
A project of this magnitude is complex and can be disruptive. We will be doing everything we can to make sure that traffic continues to flow, that access to area businesses is open and that we post adequate signs to direct people there. If there are detours or lane closures, the City will be providing project signs in the area, as well as providing advance information via the media and technology,” she added.
