Last Part of Quake-Damaged Freeway to Reopen Today

Without fanfare, the final piece of the Antelope Valley Freeway damaged in last year’s 6.7-magnitude earthquake is to reopen today, marking the official end of Caltrans quake repairs in the Santa Clarita area.

The northbound Sierra Highway off-ramp, a two-lane structure that leads off and then over the freeway, has been retrofitted and declared safe for traffic, according to Caltrans officials. This completes the massive project that included the rebuilding of heavily traveled sections of the Golden State Freeway as well as sections of the Antelope Valley Freeway.

No ceremony is planned.

Retrofitting the off-ramp involved replacing the old 2-foot-thick columns that had supported the 1,522-foot stretch of concrete over the freeway with 8-foot-thick columns, Caltrans officials said. On Monday, workers did the final “pretty work” on the ramp, said Chuck Webster, a maintenance manager for Caltrans, mostly involving pulling weeds and clearing away trash.

The opening of the ramp ends one of the Los Angeles area’s most costly earthquake public works projects.

The interchange between the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways--a mass of twisted and collapsed overpasses that became an often-published image of the earthquake--cost more than $19.6 million to repair, plus an additional $3.5 million bonus paid to the contractor for early completion of the project. The interchange opened in July, re-establishing the main highway link between the San Fernando Valley and points north.

Additional repairs and retrofitting of the Antelope Valley Freeway, including the Sierra Highway ramp, cost another $5.5 million.

During the major construction, commuters from Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster had to use surface streets to get to the San Fernando Valley and Downtown Los Angeles. Traffic tie-ups often lasted for several hours.

Roger Moody, a Caltrans superintendent, said the opening of the Sierra Highway off-ramp will relieve him of having to issue more earthquake-repair updates.

“People will quit calling and tying up the phones now,” Moody said.