Ventura Freeway : Protests Greet Plan to Delay Road Widening

Motorists have begun protesting a proposed delay in the widening of the car-choked Ventura Freeway in the San Fernando Valley, state transportation officials said Tuesday.

Commuters, including members of a road-improvement organization based in Woodland Hills, have started lobbying the state Department of Transportation, local legislators and the state Transportation Commission, asking that a $10.4-million project to create new lanes on the freeway start on schedule in 1987.

State officials revealed last month that work on the extra lanes might be postponed a year or more because of an anticipated $650-million cutback in federal highway financing over the next five years.

The Valley projects involve restriping and bridge work to allow for new outside shoulder lanes in both directions between Woodland Hills and Studio City, and new lanes next to the center divider in Woodland Hills, Tarzana and Sherman Oaks. The new lanes have been tentatively planned as “diamond lanes,” for use by car-pooling rush-hour commuters.

Other threatened Southern California projects include a $45.5-million link between California 23 and the Simi Valley Freeway in Moorpark.

Felicia Archer, a Caltrans spokeswoman, said Valley commuters complaining to her agency about the possible postponements are being referred to their state legislators.

Lobbying Predicted

She predicted that “a lot of lobbying” will occur before the Transportation Commission meets Sept. 26 to decide which of 64 major projects listed as candidates for delay will be postponed.

Roger Stanard, head of the Woodland Hills-based Ventura Freeway Improvement Coalition, said he has contacted the Transportation Commission about the situation. His 7-year-old coalition has lobbied vigorously to win more than $29-million worth of improvements to the Ventura Freeway since 1978.

“We’re very worried, very concerned,” Stanard said. “It’s confusing. One year there’s a multimillion-dollar state deficit and the next there’s a multimillion-dollar surplus.”

A $12.3-million Ventura Freeway rehabilitation project to resurface pavement next year between Valley Circle Boulevard in Woodland Hills and Wilbur Avenue in Tarzana will not be affected by the cutback, officials said. Also unaffected is the proposed $1.6-billion Century Freeway.