Caltrans

Robert Chacon Assemblywoman Carol Liu (D- La Canada Flintridge) has taken steps to halt an unpopular Caltrans project on Angeles Crest Highway. California Department of Transportation workers were scheduled to begin installation Tuesday of an electronic message sign on Angeles Crest Highway that would warn drivers about unsafe driving conditions farther up the road, but a phone call from Liu stopped the project. For more than a year, city officials have complained about the lack of cooperation from Caltrans officials regarding the sign's location.

Buck Wargo GLENDALE -- Glendale residents will get their first look Thursday night at the design for ramps off the Ventura (134) Freeway. Caltrans and Glendale officials will be hosting a public hearing on the $34.2-million redesign of the interchange east of San Fernando Road on the Ventura (134) Freeway. Caltrans proposes to widen the westbound on-and-off ramps at Fairmont Avenue and eastbound onramp at Doran Street. The ramps would be metered to limit access during heavy traffic.

Josh Kleinbaum For the second time in three months, the La Canada Flintridge City Council asked Caltrans to relocate a planned electronic sign on Angeles Crest Highway. This time, Caltrans didn't budge. Despite opposition from residents and the City Council, Caltrans has begun the process of installing an electronic sign on Angeles Crest Highway east of Starlight Crest Drive, said Deborah Harris, a spokeswoman for Caltrans. "Everyone concurred about the location," Harris said.

State transportation officials today announced plans to close portions of the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway through Burbank as they demolish part of a bridge at Providencia Avenue. Work on the bridge is scheduled to start on Thursday, but the nighttime lane closures won't start until Sunday and last through Feb. 9, according to a notice issued by the California Department of Transportation. The northbound lanes and Olive Avenue off-ramp will be closed on those nights from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The work is part of a $140-million Caltrans project to build carpool lanes along the I-5 corridor.

Janine Marnien A minor tweak in the design could mean a two- to six-month delay for the park project planned for the former Caltrans lot on Foothill Boulevard. Caltrans officials want the proposed restroom facility moved closer to the bicycle racks near the entry area than as proposed in the original design. The facility is within a foot of the adjoining sports field owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, near the southwestern portion of the park.

Local and state officials have announced a $72-million project to add truck lanes on the Interstate 5 through Newhall Pass and into Santa Clarita. The truck lanes are needed to separate heavy big-rig traffic from passenger vehicles and create safer, quicker passage for a growing population in the Santa Clarita Valley, state transportation officials say. The southbound truck lane will extend 3.7 million from Pico Canyon Road/Lyons Avenue in Santa Clarita to the Antelope Valley (SR-14)

Opposition to the proposed 710 freeway extension tunnel was the primary discussion at last week’s Crescenta Valley Town Council executive committee meeting. This following last month’s presentation by Caltrans officials at the Town Council meeting, regarding the recently conducted SR-710 Tunnel Technical Study. The study already has cost nearly $4 million for drilling, sound tests and community outreach, including the Crescenta Valley presentation and similar presentations in other nearby cities expected to be affected by the additional noise and traffic if the tunnel is built.

State transportation officials say they are offering contractors millions of dollars in incentives to finish a massive construction project along the Golden State (5) Freeway ahead of schedule. The incentives come after representatives for the California Department of Transportation heard concerns that the work on the I-5 corridor through Burbank would isolate neighborhoods around the Empire Center and limit access to Bob Hope Airport. They hope the incentives will shave up to a year off the project timeline.

Robert Chacon After months of negotiations, it is clear that La Canada Flintridge and the California Department of Transportation don't see eye to eye on the placement of an electronic traffic sign. In developments this week, the City Council responded in writing to an Oct. 8 e-mail from Caltrans officials asking the city and community to identify a suitable location for an electronic message sign. Caltrans, which has a spring deadline for construction of the sign and does not need the city's permission, wrote in the e-mail, "We have been waiting since June [for the city's preferred location]

Robert Chacon Caltrans has completed the first phase of construction on a site for its electronic message sign, even though the city wants the sign somewhere else. The California Department of Transportation notified La Canada Flintridge city officials in writing that it will begin construction of the sign in April, along Angeles Crest Highway on a right-side median just north of Milmada Drive in a residential area. Soil samples were recently taken from the site.