Heeding Simi Valley Freeway Drivers : Caltrans to Speed Up Road Work

Pressured by irate motorists and local lawmakers, Caltrans officials have vowed to speed up construction along a three-mile stretch of the Simi Valley Freeway.

The new schedule calls for the work to be completed by Nov. 1, about two weeks earlier than originally planned. In addition, the contractor may be asked to cut five more days off construction by having work done at nights and weekends, California Department of Transportation officials said.

Caltrans’ promise followed a “Town Hall” meeting in Simi Valley on Tuesday night, where residents complained that the highway work begun in August is slowing their commute to work.

“Be sure of our frustration because it is real,” said Simi Valley resident Robert Moran, who reported that his drive to work in Van Nuys has grown from 40 minutes to more than an hour. “I want that freeway fixed.”

Charlotte Sanger, who commutes 23 miles to Sylmar, testified that “my job is on the line” because the construction has made her late to work.

Workers are repairing the left shoulder of the eastbound lanes from Kuehner Drive to Topanga Canyon Boulevard, and the right shoulder of the eastbound lanes near Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

The roadwork became necessary after Caltrans last year allowed the inside shoulder to be used as an extra lane during the morning rush hour. Roper said the shoulder was not “structurally adequate and began to break up” under the constant use.

Some Simi Valley officials have suggested that Caltrans allow motorists to use the right shoulder during peak commuting hours until the left shoulder is repaired. But David Roper, deputy district director for Caltrans, said that suggestion was rejected because the right shoulder is too narrow.