Dear Street Smart:Since I moved to Agoura...

Dear Street Smart:

Since I moved to Agoura Hills in 1991, a section of Agoura Road between Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills and Lost Hills Road in Calabasas remains closed to traffic.

This has created rerouting problems whenever there’s road-blocking accidents on the southbound Ventura Freeway. Whenever this occurs, motorists unfamiliar with Liberty Canyon Road travel our residential streets seeking a freeway alternative only to find that there is none. This has added to the traffic mess and, recently, an accident at the intersection of Liberty Canyon and Country Glen Road when a frustrated motorist attempted a U-turn.

What’s going on with that closed section of Agoura Road, and when is it expected to reopen, if at all?

Stephen Schultz, Agoura Hills

Dear Reader:

For something to reopen, it has to have first been opened, and unfortunately, that strip of Agoura Road does not qualify. Although construction was finished six years ago, in the summer of 1988, a tortured history has kept the strip closed, despite its ideal position as a freeway bypass route.

According to county Department of Public Works spokeswoman Jean Granucci, the road was built by a developer in exchange for development rights in the area.

But concerns about landslides kept it from opening immediately after construction. Sure enough, in February, 1989, a water main broke, and millions of gallons of water and earth tumbled onto the roadway, damaging it. The developer was told to check the stability of the slope and repair the road.

The developer has since gone bankrupt. Its bank then took over, and has pretty much finished stabilizing the hillside and fixing the roadway.

So what’s the problem?

Well, it appears that, after the 1989 landslide, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District relocated its water lines right onto the road itself, curbside. The lines are exposed, not buried.

Who’s responsible for moving and burying them, the Las Virgenes MWD or the developer’s bank? Each says it’s the other’s responsibility. Now, the two parties are locked in litigation to decide who’s right, and until it’s settled, the roadway remains closed to traffic.

So don’t hold your breath. And even after the legal tug-of-war is over, Granucci said, you’ll have to wait at least another four to six months for the actual water-line relocation to be completed before the access road opens.

*

Dear Street Smart:

Your column has not always caught my attention. I therefore would not be surprised if you have addressed this question before. I would love to know what is happening with the elevated express lane section of the Harbor Freeway south of Downtown.

If work is ongoing, it certainly is being done inconspicuously. What’s the story?

Jim Mathews, Glendale

Dear Reader:

Work on the $500-million Harbor Freeway improvement project is indeed ongoing. You are correct, however, that it is being done inconspicuously. In fact, that’s the idea, according to Caltrans senior resident engineer Mike Perovich.

The 19.6-mile project--which includes three elevated portions--began construction in 1989. Perhaps the project’s most noticeable element has been the elevated portions, which are called viaducts.

But big freeway projects are done in stages. Work on the viaducts stops while workers concentrate on widening the freeway roadbed. Most of this work is taking place behind sound walls and “gawk screens,” which explains why you are unable to see it.

In addition, Caltrans is trying to minimize the project’s impact by keeping most lanes open except overnight, and widening most bridges in phases to alleviate the pressure on surrounding surface streets.

That, says Perovich, is why the work seems to be taking so long. If Caltrans just shut the freeway down entirely like the earthquake did the Santa Monica Freeway, the project could be finished much faster.

For the record, most of the project will be completed in 1996, with final work scheduled to be done in 1997.