Valley Circle Off-Ramp to Close for 1 1/2 Years

The Valley Circle Boulevard off-ramp from the westbound Ventura Freeway is scheduled to close late Wednesday for nearly 1 1/2 years while the crowded, 1950s-era interchange is renovated.

Westbound motorists are encouraged to use Woodlake Avenue--the first exit east of Valley Circle--as an alternative, said Jim McCallister, Department of Transportation engineer for the project.

“I don’t think this will really affect people that much, once they get used to the new pattern,” McCallister said. “The bottom line is that we have to build this thing to make things better.”

The project, which is scheduled to be finished in October, 1995, includes alteration of ramps on both sides of the freeway and expansion of the antiquated Valley Circle overpass to include five traffic lanes, two five-foot bike lanes and a 10-foot equestrian path.

The Mulholland Drive off-ramp from the eastbound side of the freeway is scheduled to close as early as summer, after the completion of a new ramp nearby. The renovation also includes the removal of several oak trees and the planting of five new ones near the historic Leonis Adobe.

The improvements were the subject of 20 years of study and four years of compromises between Caltrans and Calabasas residents, who were concerned that the interchange could harm the area’s picturesque, historic core.