SIMI VALLEY : Freeway Connector Project Running Over Budget and Behind Schedule

Due to bad weather conditions and other unexpected problems, the Simi Valley-Moopark freeway connector project is running $3 million over budget and possibly five months behind schedule, officials said Friday.

The $37-million connector, originally scheduled for completion next April, might not be finished until September, Caltrans engineer Gary Ethier said.

But Ethier said extra crews have been working on the project and he believes it could be completed sooner.

“Everything’s going quite well now,” he said. “I think we’ll finish by July. The philosophy is don’t stall. Let’s bang it out and get it done so we can move onto something else.”

Ethier said construction crews first ran into trouble last fall when they discovered an old waste dump near the construction site at the far east end of Moorpark. The dump, which contained some concentrations of lead, took two months to clean up and cost nearly $3 million.

Ethier said about 25,000 cubic yards of trash had to be unearthed and hauled to the Simi Valley Landfill. The engineer said construction work was stalled again in February and March because of heavy rains and strong winds.

The 2.2-mile connector includes two 100-foot-high bridges, each spanning more than 1,400 feet. Simi Valley-based C.A. Rasmussen and San Francisco-based C.C. Meyers are the project contractors.