Ventura Boulevard Repair Work Begins : Road Work: A six-week, $500,000 project clogs traffic between Sepulveda and Balboa boulevards.

At 6:30 a.m. Monday, a parade of bulldozers, heavy trucks and traffic control officers assembled along a stretch of Ventura Boulevard.

Workers plopped down fluorescent orange cones, blocking off two precious traffic lanes. Men wearing hard hats revved up their truck engines and dug the claws of their dozers into the asphalt, beginning a six-week road reconstruction project along Ventura Boulevard between Sepulveda and Balboa boulevards, a two-mile stretch of roadway traveled by 49,000 commuters each day.

With the predictable result.

Rush hour drivers near Haskell Avenue were delayed up to 15 minutes, feeder streets were clogged, and honking horns blared.

“This is awful, terrible. I should have never left the house,” said frustrated commuter Betty Bean.

City transportation officials, however, said they expected worse.

With a few more traffic control adjustments, the drive, or more accurately the creep along Ventura should improve slightly, said transportation engineer Raymond H. Wellbaum.

“This isn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” said Wellbaum, who kept traffic vigil on the corner of Ventura and Haskell.

The $500,000 project entails digging up deteriorating portions of the boulevard where years of heavy traffic has resulted in cracks, potholes and bumps. A new asphalt road base will be poured, and the entire stretch will be resurfaced.

The six-lane boulevard will be reduced to four lanes during most of the construction. During the morning rush, three of the lanes are alloted to eastbound traffic. Westbound commuters are squeezed into one lane. After 9 a.m., traffic will be channeled into two lanes in each direction.

The first of three construction phases began Monday with the asphalt removal.

Wellbaum said the biggest problem during morning commute was that cars were abruptly channelled from three westbound lanes into one. On Tuesday, barricade cones will be spread out over a longer stretch of roadway to allow for smoother merges.

The second construction phase, when workers will grind down bumps and other irregularities between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., is slated to begin April 16 between Sepulveda and Gloria Avenue, followed by work between Gloria and Hayvenhurst Avenue and finally between Hayvenhurst and Balboa.

The final phase--repaving and restriping--will follow on three consecutive Sundays between 3 a.m. and noon. Officials hope to complete the project in early May.

“This is an ambitious schedule, but we are going to do everything we can to get it done as quickly as possible,” said Dennis Harding, general superintendent of the division of street maintenance. “We know that traffic is going to be horrendous.”

Several office workers along the two-mile stretch said they will give themselves more time to get to work. A garage attendant said he will try to be more cheerful to calm grumbling commuters.

“People were more grouchy this morning,” said garage attendant Ramon Reyes. “I guess they didn’t expect the traffic.”

City officials mailed out 10,000 notices warning residents and businesses along the two-mile section that traffic lanes would be restricted.

“But you know, people always leave home with just enough time to get to work,” said Paula Christian, who directed traffic Monday morning at the intersection of Haskell and Ventura. “There is a lot of frustration out there.”