6th Lane Approved for Golden State to Ease Morning Jams

A sixth lane was authorized Thursday for the southbound Golden State Freeway in the Northeast San Fernando Valley, scene of mammoth traffic jams in the morning rush hour.

The California Transportation Commission approved the new lane along a four-mile stretch of the freeway between the Simi Valley and Hollywood freeways.

It was one of four new projects for the San Fernando Valley and among 1,400 highway projects statewide approved by the commission.

The lane will be created by narrowing the five existing lanes.

Commissioners authorized expenditure of only half the project’s $8-million cost, but indicated that the rest would be approved next year.

The commission, which controls all highway spending in the state, directed the state Department of Transportation to begin the project in 1989.

Road Project in Newhall

The commission also approved $1.9 million to add two lanes to a mile of San Fernando Road northwest of the Newhall business district.

The new lanes will double the width of the road, which is California 126, between Lyons Avenue and 15th Street.

Also approved were major renovations to the Ventura Freeway intersections at Calabasas Parkway in Calabasas and Lost Hills Road in Agoura.

The Lost Hills project is expected to cost $2.1 million, and the Calabasas Parkway project is projected to cost $4.6 million.

Both projects are to begin this year and are to be paid for entirely by developers of nearby projects, commission staff members said.