Plant May Delay Rock-Blasting on Freeway

Caltrans crews forced to halt rock-blasting Tuesday after they found an apparent bobcat den will have to delay work until spring because of a possibly endangered plant growing at the site of a road-widening project along the Antelope Valley Freeway in Agua Dulce.

The plants found near the $31-million project could be lily, wild onion, monardilla, buckwheat or rabbit brush, all native to the area, but Caltrans environmentalists say they won’t know for sure until they bloom in spring. Although those plants are not protected, some subspecies are endangered.

“We are very environmentally conscious here and will delay a project if something like a plant or animal on the endangered species list is found at a construction site,” said Margie Tiritilli, a Caltrans spokeswoman. She noted that it was the department’s environmentalists who discovered the bobcat den and plants during a final walk-through of a section of the 3.5-mile blasting site Tuesday morning.

Transportation officials will consult with state Department of Fish and Game botanists to determine if the plants found near the work site are endangered. If that is the case, Caltrans will take steps to protect the plants.

Meanwhile, construction crews will continue to lay concrete, widen bridges, excavate roadway and build drainage areas on the highway improvement project that began in June 1996 and is expected to be completed in spring 1999, Tiritilli said.

The rock-blasting was to have taken place along the stretch of freeway between Agua Dulce Canyon Road and Escondido Canyon Road in the Santa Clarita Valley, Tiritilli said.

Although not legally obligated to safeguard the den, Caltrans officials halted the rock-blasting operation to avoid harming any bobcats burrowed in the craggy mountainside. No bobcats were found Tuesday.