State to Speed Work on Interchange

Spurred by a request from newly elected Gov. Gray Davis to accelerate work statewide on road projects, Caltrans officials announced Friday they will speed up by more than a year improvements to ease congestion at the continually clogged interchange of the San Diego and Ventura freeways.

Groundbreaking could move up from late 2002 to early 2001, said Tony V. Harris, head of the local Caltrans office.

While welcoming the news--the first concrete sign of the state moving to ease crowding on the busy interchange--supporters said work needs to begin even sooner.

“This is far, far, far too long to get it up and running,” said Assemblyman Wally Knox, D-Los Angeles, who was recently appointed to a special committee to oversee ways to ease congestion on California’s crowded roads. “We need to do better.”

Caltrans officials will immediately begin working on an environmental review and design plan for the project, which will add one lane to the connector between the northbound San Diego Freeway and the southbound Ventura Freeway, and another lane to the San Diego Freeway from Mulholland Drive to Ventura Boulevard.

Normally, officials first do an environmental review, then proceed with designing the freeway. By doing both at the same time, Caltrans is taking a risk. If the environmental review turns up problems, a full-blown environmental analysis would be triggered, meaning two more years of work and possible changes to the design plans.

But Harris said he considered the risk minimal when compared with the benefit of better traffic flow through the interchange, which was built in 1956 and now carries more than 550,000 vehicles daily, the state’s fourth busiest.

He also said the department would not be pressured into doing a slipshod environmental review.

“We’ll do a thorough” review, Harris said.

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Another unusual feature of Friday’s announcement is that review and design plans will begin even before there is money to pay for the improvements--a process that won’t be completed until later this year.

Still, few doubted the $14-million fix would be overlooked as state officials decide in coming months how to allocate freeway money.

Michael Bustamante, Davis’ press secretary, said about $1.7 billion is waiting to be tapped to fund long backlogged projects throughout the state. As a longtime resident of Los Angeles, Davis is very familiar with the problems of the 101-405 interchange, Bustamante said.

“The governor’s directive is clear,” Bustamante said. “Get the money out on the streets to alleviate congestion.”

The funding picture may become clearer as soon as next week, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority votes on a recommendation to pay for 20% of the project, with the state kicking in the remainder.

Project supporters said approval would be a crucial show of good faith to assure state officials of the importance of the project.

David Fleming, a Valley activist who sits on the California Transportation Commission, the body that will ultimately decide the funding, said he is certain the project will get needed funding.

He said the primary battleground will be on how to move even faster. He said he will encourage Knox and other transportation officials to look at such measures as waiving conventional bidding and environmental review requirements.

“It’s really a fairly simple project,” Fleming said. “We’re trying to telescope this thing down to get it built in 12 months.”