The Old Road, used when The Grapevine is closed, set for $250 million widening

When the Route Fire burned about 5,000 acres near Castaic in August 2022, prompting closure of the 5 Freeway at The Grapevine followed by weeks of lane closures for repairs, motorists exited onto The Old Road detour, bringing traffic misery to the Santa Clarita Valley.

Detours from the primary north-south freeway link between Southern and Northern California also occur during snowstorms, fog, flooding and road work, repeating the scenario ad nauseam with miles of snarled traffic both on the freeway and along the deteriorating side road.

Los Angeles County Public Works — after years of planning — is close to starting construction on a project to widen a 2-mile portion of The Old Road west of Santa Clarita. County officials say the widening plan will enable the road to handle emergency freeway detours and local traffic for the growing Santa Clarita Valley.

“That particular area has been in need of improvement for years,” said Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel, a community activist from Santa Clarita. “The Old Road is too small for the traffic it carries.”

Red area is the portion of The Old Road west of Santa Clarita that Los Angeles County is planning on re-aligning and widening. (map by SCNG graphics).
Red area is the portion of The Old Road west of Santa Clarita that Los Angeles County is planning on re-aligning and widening. (map by SCNG graphics). 

It has taken awhile for the county to pull together the $250 million for the project. And after using grants, loans, bonds and funds from Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s transportation pot, the county is still $12 million short. It plans on filing a funding request via the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the county reported.

“It has taken six years to get to this point and there are still important milestones ahead – including obtaining an environmental clearance – but we’re getting closer,” said Barger in a statement on March 14.

The Old Road will be widened from two lanes in each direction to three lanes in each direction between Henry Mayo Drive near the 126 Freeway and 5 Freeway interchange and Magic Mountain Parkway. In addition, the project calls for adding protected bikeways on both sides of the roadway.

Also, two bridges will be replaced, including the old, abandoned Union Pacific Railroad bridge, which will enable a multi-use trail to be extended underneath the new bridge from Santa Clarita, said Steve Burger, deputy director for transportation for county Public Works.

The Santa Clara River bridge will be replaced because it doesn’t meet federal earthquake standards. Also it is not high enough to accommodate flood waters from a 50-year storm, officials reported.

While Barger stated she wanted to see the community show support, only a handful participated at a hearing for the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on March 14. Those who did offer comments were in favor of the project and recognized the longstanding need for improvements, with some wanting even more of The Old Road to be widened.

“When there is a snow closure (on the 5 Freeway), The Old Road is horrific. Also when there is an accident on the freeway,” said Lloyd Carder, a resident of nearby Hasley Canyon and former Castaic Town Council president.

The Old Road pre-existed the 5 Freeway as the north-south route through the area. But it wasn’t designed to handle the explosive growth in the last several decades, nor the emergency detours from The Grapevine, Steve Burger said.

The Route Fire of 2022 cemented the need to realign and widen The Old Road so it can be a relief valve for the next emergency. With climate change, the mountain pass has experienced more intense storms with longer durations, followed by landslides from torrential rains. Also, brushfire incidents are increasing and becoming hotter, causing more freeway damage, he said.

“Modernizing the road helps add resiliency, so that we can better weather frequent impacts to the I-5 Freeway,” Burger said.

Not just for vehicles

FOLLOW US ON GOOGLE NEWS

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Todays Chronic is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – todayschronic.com. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Leave a Comment