Santa Clarita Joins Agencies Asking for a Safer Highway : Transportation: Citing the deaths of 29 people since 1989, officials press the state for improvements to California 126.

A 25-mile stretch of California 126 west of the city has been a death trap in recent years--since 1989, there have been 29 traffic deaths, about twice the average rate for a state highway.

Several cities along the route have passed resolutions urging that improvements be made to the road. Fillmore Mayor Pro Tem Roger Campbell, one of the leading proponents of the improvements, said he wants the state Department of Transportation to place concrete center dividers on four-lane stretches of the road between Santa Clarita and Santa Paula, with the remaining two-lane portions expanded to four lanes as soon as possible.

“Every head-on collision would be stopped,” he said. “People would also drive slower because of tunnel effect.”

More than a dozen government and civic agencies have supported the proposed improvements, including the Santa Clarita City Council, which unanimously endorsed a resolution Tuesday night.

Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy noted that Caltrans widened part of the road from two lanes to four earlier this year, but the highway remains dangerous.

“They did the widening, but there’s no barrier in-between,” she said. “When people get sleepy and there’s not a great deal of lighting, they drift off into the other lane into oncoming traffic.”

Caltrans is studying the possibility of installing median barriers, but won’t know for at least a few months if they will improve the road’s safety, said Rick Holland, spokesman for the state agency. He said the concerns expressed by Campbell and his supporters will be considered in the study.

Campbell said two previous efforts to obtain the improvements since 1989 have been unsuccessful, but he renewed his efforts after two men were killed in a head-on collision east of Fillmore in October.

“This is one of the most dangerous highways in the state of California,” he said.

Holland said it is possible that the barriers would cause more problems than they solve.

“People might run into the median when they otherwise might adjust,” he said. “It will also cut off a lot of people from their businesses and homes, and the U-turns they make could lead to hazards.”

Campbell said his proposal calls for openings at all turnoffs, which would eliminate much of that risk.

The cost of installing a safety divider has not yet been determined, but Caltrans would be able to pay for it out of a safety fund designated for small projects, Holland said.

Widening the road is another matter: Several such projects in the region have been put on hold because money has been diverted to seismic retrofitting projects in the wake of the Northridge earthquake.

“Projects to widen the road are scheduled, but I’m not sure when it will actually take place,” Holland said.