Calabasas : Old Town Renovation Will Begin Soon

Construction is expected to begin early next year on a project designed to ease traffic and parking congestion in Old Town Calabasas, a collection of Western-styled shops and restaurants on Calabasas Road.

The Calabasas City Council voted this week to hire Flowers & Associates Inc. of Santa Barbara to oversee construction. The city will put the project out to bid next month, officials said.

The Calabasas Road Streetscape Improvements Plan is part of ongoing efforts to attract more shoppers to the district, which is home to the Leonis Adobe, a museum housed in a Spanish adobe built in the 1800s, and a Victorian-style park that opened in May. The plan calls for adding a traffic lane to Calabasas Road that can be converted to parking spaces, and for installing old-time boardwalks, benches and street lights to enhance the district’s quaint character.

Officials said the $1.1-million project should be completed by next summer, and that Flowers & Associates will be paid up to $100,000.

One lane of Calabasas Road will be closed while the roadwork portion is being completed, officials said. The city delayed the start of construction, officials said, so as not to exacerbate traffic congestion created by Caltrans’ ongoing renovation of the Mulholland / Valley Circle interchange over the Ventura Freeway.

That project, which began almost two years ago, is expected to be completed in January, Caltrans officials said.