Roadblocks Stall Repairs on Simi Valley Freeway

In a setback for northern San Fernando Valley commuters, reconstruction of the earthquake-damaged Simi Valley Freeway--originally scheduled for completion next week--will not be finished until the middle of next month, Caltrans said Tuesday.

Officials had expected to reopen all lanes of the bridges at San Fernando Mission Boulevard and Bull Creek next Tuesday after workers finished repairing the westbound side of the spans, which were considerably weakened in the Northridge earthquake.

But a delay in starting the project and last-minute design changes have pushed the target back by up to three weeks, to Sept. 19.

“It’s still possible they’ll get it open before the 19th,” Caltrans engineer Frank Latham said of the contractor, San Diego-based F.C.I. Constructors. “But right now the 19th is the scheduled date.”

After the January temblor, the overpasses sagged nearly four feet in some spots. To handle traffic in the area, which currently averages about 180,000 vehicles daily, workers erected a detour that funneled traffic from both directions into the five lanes that used to carry only westbound traffic.

Restoration of the eastbound bridge, which cost $9.7 million, wrapped up last May. Although plans called for the contractor to immediately begin work on the westbound portion, two related problems cropped up: The previous contractor had not yet finished cleaning up and traffic could not be shifted onto that newly rebuilt eastbound side.

The project hit another roadblock when Los Angeles flood control officials, who have jurisdiction over the Bull Creek flood channel, decided not to allow scaffolding to be anchored in the channel, requiring new plans that added two weeks to the schedule.

Because the circumstances were beyond contractor F.C.I.’s control, officials said the firm will not be held financially liable for the delay.

The current repair project--worth $9.6 million--carries no bonus or penalty for either early or late completion. Such financial incentives were used to accelerate repair of the eastbound Simi Valley Freeway and the shattered Santa Monica and Golden State freeways.

Latham said it was difficult to determine whether incentives would have speeded up work on the current project. F.C.I. also faced greater limitations than contractors on those past projects, because some night work was banned by the California Department of Transportation in an effort to mollify disgruntled freeway neighbors.

“We’re trying to be responsive to the residents,” Latham said. “They’ve got to live with the dust, but the noise we try to do something about.”

If construction is completed by Sept. 19, the three lanes of westbound traffic will be routed onto the new bridge immediately. But a full reopening of all 10 lanes of the freeway--five in either direction--could take another 20 days, as originally planned.

Still, Latham said, traffic flow should improve along the new overpass immediately, because two sharp curves created by the detour will be eliminated.

Caltrans also is scheduled to begin widening the Simi Valley Freeway in mid-September, close to the date of the planned reopening of the Granada Hills bridges. That project will begin on the western end of the freeway and should not impact or be delayed by the repairs over Bull Creek, officials said.

That $22.4-million widening project is expected to alleviate a long-standing traffic tie-up on the freeway by adding lanes to both sides of the freeway from just west of the Ventura County line to the Golden State Freeway. Lane closures for the widening should only occur at night or off-peak hours, officials said.