Santa Clarita Plans $13.6-Million Road Project

One of Santa Clarita’s busiest and most chronically clogged streets will be widened and improved under a $13.6-million project announced Wednesday by city officials.

Mayor Jo Anne Darcy said the widening of San Fernando Road, the city’s only major north-south artery and a primary access route to the Antelope Valley Freeway, would help relieve traffic congestion throughout the city. A public opinion poll conducted by the city two years ago found that residents believe traffic to be the area’s greatest problem.

“It will mean a lot to the city of Santa Clarita because it will mean a relief from congestion,” Darcy said.

About 2 1/2 miles of San Fernando Road, which is used by 24,000 vehicles each day, would be widened from two lanes to four lanes between Magic Mountain Parkway and Lyons Avenue. Improvements would include left-turn bays and parking lanes.

Work on phase one of the project could begin late next year and be completed in 1992, Santa Clarita Public Works Director John Medina said. But officials could not say where the work would begin. The project will be divided into four phases and it has not been decided which phase would be the first implemented.

The stretch of San Fernando Road to be widened in the project announced Wednesday would complement a section from Newhall Avenue to the Antelope Valley Freeway that was widened last year by Caltrans at a cost of $3 million.

In the new project, Santa Clarita would contribute $6 million, the California Department of Transportation $2 million and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission $5.6 million.

Medina said funding for the project, designated as the city’s top transportation priority, had been in doubt for months.

City officials had hoped that a $285-million bond measure for new Santa Clarita Valley roads would finance the project, but the measure was soundly defeated in a wave of anti-tax sentiment in November, winning only 20% of the vote.

The city learned last week that the commission would contribute toward the project, Medina said. Darcy said pressure from state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) helped persuade the commission to fund the project.

The widened road will eliminate or shorten some of the parking lots of businesses along San Fernando Road, but will not require that any buildings be torn down, Medina said.