Woodland Hills : Electrical Woes Delay Interchange Opening

The long-awaited opening of the renovated Valley Circle interchange has been delayed because of electrical problems with traffic signals, officials said Friday.

The interchange, which was to have opened Thursday, will open sometime next week, said Robert Yalda, traffic engineer for the city of Calabasas.

The $10-million project was designed to improve traffic flow from Calabasas to the Los Angeles side of the Ventura Freeway. Construction, which began in January, 1994, has forced detours that have bottlenecked traffic in the neighborhood.

The renovation includes a new, six-lane bridge over the Ventura Freeway to replace an old, four-lane bridge and redesigned westbound freeway on-ramps and off-ramps. One portion of the project, an on-ramp to Los Angeles from Old Town Calabasas, will be completed early next year, after the old bridge is taken down, officials said.