Projects aim at relief from I-5 construction traffic

As motorists deal with backups and delays from the impacts of the Golden State (5) Freeway interchange construction project at Empire Avenue, a series of proposed projects has been identified with hopes of bringing relief.

The slate of mitigation measures, projected to cost around $17 million, is expected to go before the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority Planning Committee Wednesday. If approved by the committee, the measures would head to the full board of directors on Oct. 23.

The list was developed through discussions between Metro staff and staffs from the cities of Burbank and Glendale, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority and other agencies, Dan Feger, executive director of the Bob Hope Airport, said at a recent airport authority commission meeting.

“There were a number of projects that were identified and ranked in order of priority and importance…and hopefully one day will be funded,” Feger said.

The list of 19 measures includes improved traffic signals on cities streets in areas of Burbank and Glendale affected by the freeway construction, increased public transit services, noise-abatement efforts and marketing campaigns or other efforts to encourage travelers to use alternate routes or transportation methods.

“We believe that providing alternative mechanisms for people to get from Point A to Point B without having to bring their car on I-5 or get to I-5 will help dramatically reduce traffic congestion in Burbank and around the airport and even spilling into Glendale,” Feger said.

The proposal comes as Caltrans is warning motorists of possible delays at the northbound Buena Vista offramp, Feger said.

“We’ve been advised that there’s going to be substantial congestion at the Buena Vista interchange and they’ve reached that point where the Buena Vista offramp is going to be dramatically impacted,” Feger said. “That’s going to have consequences for the city of Burbank and for us.”

The $355-million freeway construction project began in May 2014 and is expected to be completed in 2019. The project is fully funded, but additional costs for construction management, project mitigation, public outreach and landscaping elements are not a part of the budget, according to a city of Burbank staff report.

For example, the city is responsible for inspections and other work where the state-funded construction meets city streets, but such expenses are not funded as part of the California Department of Transportation project, said Joy Forbes, Community Development director for the city.

“It’s like they’re asking us to be burdened from their project,” Forbes said.

Forbes said the list of mitigation measures represents about 90% of what the city staff thinks is still needed for those additional elements. The list focuses on the improvements that will have the greatest impact for the area, she said.

The mitigation measures would be funded from a portion of the $271.5 million of Metro funding allocated to the Empire construction project, but which is “already left over,” Forbes said.

“Metro is being amazing coming to the table with money for this,” she said. “This helps give [Caltrans] the tools for it to be a good job.”

That money is expected to be divvied up at the completion of construction and allocated to projects in the Arroyo Verdugo and San Fernando Valley subregions. By requesting it now, it reduces the potential pot for funding future projects to $254 million when the construction is completed.

The list also includes seven unfunded measures, which Forbes said she hopes will be funded in the future, such as landscaping around the freeway’s new sound walls, which will be taller and closer to residential property along the route.

“We’re going to keep on them about and keep working with them on” the additional measures, Forbes said.