Los Angeles County Public Works is close to starting construction on a project to widen a 2-mile portion of The Old Road, west of Santa Clarita. Officials say the widening plan will enable the road to handle emergency freeway detours and local traffic for the growing Santa Clarita Valley.
It has taken awhile for the county to pull together the $250 million for the project. And after using grants, loans, bonds and funds from Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s transportation pot, the county is still $12 million short. It plans on filing a funding request through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the county reported.
The Old Road will be widened from two lanes in each direction to three lanes in each direction between Henry Mayo Drive near the 126 Freeway and 5 Freeway interchange and Magic Mountain Parkway.
The project calls for adding protected bikeways on both sides of the roadway. Two bridges will also be replaced, including the old, abandoned Union Pacific Railroad bridge, which will enable a multi-use trail to be extended underneath the new bridge from Santa Clarita, said Steve Burger, deputy director for transportation for county Public Works.
The Santa Clara River bridge will be replaced because it doesn’t meet federal earthquake standards. Also it is not high enough to accommodate flood waters from a 50-year storm, officials reported.
-------------------------------------------------------
Source: East Bay Times
