SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Caltrans to Speed Up Plans for Car Pool Lanes

State transportation officials are working to accelerate plans to build nearly 24 miles of car pool lanes on three sections of freeway in the San Fernando Valley, officials said this week.

Caltrans plans to move up by about three years a plan to widen sections of the San Diego, Hollywood and Ventura freeways to add the car pool lanes at a combined cost of about $56 million, Caltrans officials said. The lanes would be built by using space on the shoulder and in the median without expanding the freeway strip into adjoining land.

The car pool lanes, also known as high-occupancy vehicle or HOV lanes, were originally scheduled for construction beginning in 1996. But Caltrans officials in Los Angeles said they have urged transportation officials in Sacramento to begin construction in 1993 to help alleviate the traffic congestion and spur the economy by adding jobs in the areas.