Caltrans and a freeway advocate discussed upcoming short and long-term plans for the I-5 through Santa Clarita, including the latest on toll lanes and traffic plans. 

The good news for commuters is, the Metro and carpool, or HOV lanes, are not going to be toll lanes.

(Click here for interview with Caltrans official, freeway advocate.)

Because of the funds generated from Measure M and the funds from a federal grant, there is no toll road planned for construction, officials told KHTS News this week.

“If people have been wondering about where their tax dollars have been going, this is their opportunity to get some back,” said Victor Lindenheim, executive director of the Golden State Gateway Coalition. “There will be about $1 billion in the I-5 corridor over the next five years.”

These funds to improve the I-5 are using existing public funds, according to Michael Comeaux, Caltrans PIO. But the future Metro carpool lane project and other subsequent projects are to be funded through new initiatives, such as Measure M, a federal infrastructure grant and a combination of other sources.

Measure M is a new sales tax specifically to raise funds for transportation projects such as this, and is projected to raise nearly $60 billion over the next 20 years.

“It did not make sense to take basically another half a cent tax and then take that to build a toll road,” said Lindenheim. “I think they saw the wisdom in that and we’re getting what we asked for.”

The first project, scheduled to take place beginning this summer till the summer of 2019, hopes to replace the broken or worn concrete of the I-5 freeway beginning just South of Calgrove to the approximately 1.7 miles north of Lake Hughes Road.

“While you can find some areas of the 5 that are up in the boonies, right here in our area, there’s just an incredible volume [of trucks and vehicles]. And the pavement is 50 years old and is just no longer adequate for the future weight demands,” said Comeaux.

The outdated concrete of the I-5 freeway sees nearly 200,000 vehicles daily, with 10 percent of those vehicles being trucks weighing several tons, putting significant stress on the roads.

“Just this week, we had an emergency shutdown of the three and four lanes up in the Castaic area because a concrete slab had been broken and needed repair immediately,” said Comeaux. “So it’s showing its age.”

The contractor, Atkinson Construction, plans to work in 2-mile long stretches at a maximum of two sections at a time. Most of this construction is scheduled to happen during the night between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., and there will be a significant impact on traffic during those times.

“And like all things in construction, this could be subject to change,” said Comeaux.

Not only will this project smooth out the pavement across all four lanes both northbound and southbound of the 16-mile stretch through Santa Clarita, but the project hopes to bring in modern technology to improve the safety and data gathering associated with this stretch of freeway.

Along with modern guard rails to improve the safety of drivers and the circuits placed within the pavement that would gather up-to-the-minute traffic information to guide drivers, the project will also be followed by Metro’s endeavors to create more carpool lanes.

In addition to the new safety apparatus and traffic tech, the project will circumnavigate the need for toll roads due to the new carpool lanes being built.

“I urge people to pay attention to the updates Caltrans will be putting out on a weekly basis for where the closures will be taking place,” Comeaux said, “what are the hours and if there are ramps closed, there will be detours that are indicated.”