Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Commuter Lane Planned for Antelope Valley Freeway

State highway officials want to build California’s longest commuter lane along the Antelope Valley Freeway to ease driving between Santa Clarita and Palmdale.

Residents may review the plans and submit written comments to the California Department of Transportation beginning Monday.

Caltrans has proposed constructing a 33.5-mile lane for car-pools in the median of the Antelope Valley Freeway from San Fernando Road in Santa Clarita to Avenue P-8 in Palmdale.

“The traffic is so heavy and we believe the volume of people is sufficient,” said Raja Mitwasi, head of the department’s high-occupancy vehicle program.

There are only two lanes in each direction for several miles along the freeway and at peak traffic times about 2,000 vehicles per hour travel through its interchange with the Golden State Freeway, Mitwasi said.

Construction of the $110-million project is slated for 1995.

Most of the work consists of excavating and repaving the median area, with little need to widen the thoroughfare. The project also includes installing sound walls and areas for California Highway Patrol officers to be stationed to watch for violators.

If approved, it will be the longest lane in the state’s high-occupancy vehicle program, according to Caltrans.

California’s longest existing commuter lane runs for about 27 miles along the San Diego Freeway in Orange County. A commuter lane even longer than that proposed for the Antelope Valley Freeway is being planned for the San Bernardino Freeway but would not begin construction until 1997 or 1998.

Written comments may be directed to Ronald J. Kosinski at Caltrans’ Environmental Planning Branch, 120 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90012, through June 10. Copies of the project proposal and accompanying environmental documents are available at that office.