BILL INCLUDES ROAD-WIDENING CASH HOUSE GIVES NOD TO RANCHO VISTA PROJECT.Byline: JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape SKEEN Staff Writer PALMDALE -- A federal transportation bill includes $500,000 for the $27 million widening of Rancho Vista Boulevard, work considered vital to growing jobs at one of the region's largest employment centers. The House of Representatives included funding for the Palmdale project in a $139.7 billion bill that funds the departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary and the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). . ``The Rancho Vista project is not only vital to relieving traffic congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. in the Palmdale area, it is absolutely critical to the balanced economic development of the region,'' said Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, who lobbied for the Palmdale project. ``With the defense contractors and Air Force facilities in the area, this project is vital to assuring that our transportation infrastructure becomes a conduit for growth rather than a chokepoint choke·point or choke point n. 1. A narrow passage, such as a strait, through which shipping must pass. 2. A point of congestion or obstruction. Noun 1. .'' The project is aimed at relieving rush-hour congestion around Lockheed Martin's Plant 10 and neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. Air Force Plant 42. The two plants provide about 6,500 jobs for the region. ``This is the No. 1 priority for the city,'' Mayor Jim Ledford said. ``Congestion becomes an inhibitor to the ability to grow jobs. We want to remove that inhibitor.'' Plans call for widening Rancho Vista to six lanes from Fairway Drive to 30th Street East. The intersection with Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling also will be widened to include two left-turn lanes in each direction and two right-turn lanes in the westbound direction. Because of the scope and cost of the project, work will be done in phases. The first phase, estimated to cost about $7 million, will focus on improvements between Third and Eighth streets east, including the Sierra Highway intersection. Pointing to Plant 10 and Plant 42's contributions to national defense, McKeon was able to successfully lobby for $2.8 million for the project to be included in a $286.4 billion, six-year federal transportation funding bill approved last year. ``The Rancho Vista Project is a crucial focal point focal point n. See focus. for the defense infrastructure in the region and I remain committed to seeing to it that we get the necessary funding to complete this project to meet the needs of our community,'' McKeon said. Projects at Plant 10 and Plant 42 include modification work on the B-2 bombers, the F-117A stealth fighters and the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft; manufacturing of the Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft; major sub-assembly work on the F-35 joint strike fighter A strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. It differs from an attack aircraft in that the aircraft remains a capable fighter. ; and parts manufacturing for the F-22A fighter. james.skeen(at)dailynews (661) 267-5743 |
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