EARTHQUAKE: THE ROAD TO RECOVERY : Freeway Linkages Reopened

The section of the Simi Valley Freeway linking the San Diego and Foothill freeways, which was closed after the Northridge earthquake, was reopened Sunday, Caltrans officials said.

In addition, most of the transitional roads linking the freeways were also opened Sunday. Commuters will be able to switch from freeway to freeway without taking as many surface streets, said Charles Webster, regional manager of Caltrans’ Newhall office, which oversees operations in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. The stretch includes entrances and exits along the way as well as transitional roads to the Golden State Freeway.

“At least commuters can take the 405 to the 118 and get on to the 5 or the 210,” Webster said. “It’ll give them a little breather. But they’ll still have to take some city streets to get around.”

However, the Simi Valley Freeway west of the San Diego Freeway is still closed, Webster said.

A second lane on the southbound Golden State Freeway near the Santa Clara River and the Rye Canyon on-ramp to the southbound Golden State were expected to open by late Sunday, lessening the area’s traffic bottleneck, Webster said.

In addition, a portion of the Golden State Freeway between Lyons Avenue in Newhall and Roxford Street in Sylmar will be closed from 11:30 p.m. until 5 a.m. Monday and Tuesday for quake-related repairs.