Caltrans Reveals More Details, Predicts No Added Freeway Tie-Ups

State highway officials Monday released additional details of a $23-million construction project along the Ventura Freeway in the San Fernando Valley and predicted the work will not increase traffic congestion.

If motorists embrace such traffic-reduction measures as van pools and bypass routes, freeway volume should drop by about 4% from present levels along the Tarzana-to-Calabasas project, state Department of Transportation officials said.

Despite some motorists’ fears of “gloom and doom,” said Jerry B. Baxter, Caltrans’ interim director for Southern California, “our goal and our expectation is to see that congestion is no worse during construction than it is now.”

The 16-month project, which began last month, includes widening of the freeway to four lanes each way between Valley Circle and Topanga Canyon boulevards, and adding a fifth westbound lane from White Oak Avenue to Topanga Canyon Boulevard. The new lanes will be added by narrowing the existing 12-foot lanes to 11 feet and using the median shoulder.

In addition, the $18.3-million contract with Tutor-Saliba Corp. calls for reconstruction of 3,200 feet of pavement at the Valley Circle interchange and resurfacing of scattered segments of broken roadway along the 7.4-mile project.

To reduce traffic, Caltrans officials say they have set aside $250,000 to subsidize new van pools and will construct at least two new park-and-ride lots west of the project area.

Also, Caltrans on Monday opened a telephone information line--800-CALL VIP--to keep motorists informed of construction schedules.

In April, similar information will be available on AM radio at 1610 on the dial and, in May, it will be displayed on changeable message signs along the freeway east and west of the project.

During a four-month period beginning in December, when the pavement near Valley Circle is being replaced, Caltrans will step up efforts to reduce congestion, officials said.

Signs will encourage motorists bound for Warner Center and other destinations within the project boundaries to use bypass routes north and south of the freeway.

In addition, said Richard Kermode, Caltrans’ senior project engineer, traffic signals along Ventura Boulevard parallel to the construction area will be computerized so that the length of green and red lights will adjust automatically to increase street capacity.

Also, a tow truck crew will be on patrol between Las Virgenes Road and De Soto Avenue to clear away disabled vehicles quickly.

For 120 days, the existing six lanes will be narrowed to 10 feet each and all of the lanes will be on one side of the freeway median, then all six will be on the other.

A second 16-month widening project on the freeway is tentatively scheduled to begin late this year. That $22-million project includes adding a fifth lane each way to all sections of the freeway not already that wide between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Universal City.