SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Cold Weather Delays End of Freeway Project

A 2 1/2-year effort to widen and improve the Ventura Freeway--one of the nation’s busiest--was running on schedule until about December, when nature put a chill on the project.

Completion of the $40-million project was expected in April but will be delayed until June or July because nighttime temperatures have been too cold for workers to place a final layer of asphalt on a section of freeway.

For the asphalt to be pliable enough to work with, the nighttime temperatures must be 50 degrees or higher, Caltrans officials said.

Caltrans officials had expected temperatures to drop during winter months but had hoped they could get more asphalt on the roadway before the onset of cold weather. The improvements are meant to help ease the ever-increasing traffic flow. On a typical weekday, an average of 277,000 vehicles use the Ventura Freeway between the San Diego Freeway and Hayvenhurst Avenue.