BOULEVARD GRIDLOCK WORK SNARLS TRAFFIC.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer PALMDALE - Caltrans' repaving work on Palmdale Boulevard has irked downtown business people. One lane in each direction is closed to traffic, curbside curb·side n. 1. The side of a pavement or street that is bordered by a curb. 2. A sidewalk. adj. Located, operating, or occurring at or along the sidewalk or curb: parking is banned and left turns are barred for three blocks. ``It's a disruption,'' Midas Muffler muffler, in automobiles, device designed to reduce the noise from the exhaust of an internal-combustion engine. When the exhaust gases from an internal-combustion engine are released directly into the atmosphere, they create a loud noise, caused by the passage of the shop owner Al Beattie said, estimating that his business is off 20 percent. ``My customers can't get to me because they can't even make a U-turn.'' The downtown work is part of a $7.3 million project to repave Highway 138 from the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. - where the highway designation follows Palmdale Boulevard - to 62nd Street East, where 138 is on Pearblossom Highway. The work also involves narrowing landscaped medians downtown, but will not reconfigure Palmdale Boulevard for six lanes - a more ambitious project that was planned more than a year ago but is now on hold. ``It is an improvement project, repaving and restriping. It is not the widening project,'' Caltrans spokeswoman Ivy Estrada said. ``The other project is at a standstill standstill /stand·still/ (stand´stil?) cessation of activity, as of the heart (cardiac s.) or chest (respiratory s.) . stand·still n. Complete cessation of activity or progress. , searching for options and funding.'' The six-lane project was stalled because of complications in widening the boulevard across the Metrolink and Burlington Northern/Santa Fe rail crossing and other design issues, officials said. The entire 10-mile repaving project - which involves grinding down three or four inches of asphalt asphalt (ăs`fôlt, –fălt), brownish-black substance used commonly in road making, roofing, and waterproofing. Chemically, it is a natural mixture of hydrocarbons. - is expected to be concluded in June or July 2002, Caltrans officials said. The repaving is being done in segments to try to minimize inconvenience to the public. But downtown business people say they are already inconvenienced. ``I'm so mad. I couldn't even get here on time this morning,'' Big City Fabrics employee Linda Dearo said. Because left turns are prohibited between 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 and 11th Street East, customers coming from east Palmdale must keep driving until they find a place to turn around. ``One customer said, 'I didn't even come back,''' Dearo said. Beattie said motorists trying to avoid the boulevard 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. race through his driveway to reach Avenue Q-9. 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. businesses lost their curbside parking, so their customers end up parking in his lot. Beattie fears that his driveway will be shut off when the repaving work shifts to the curbside lane. ``They're only concerned about people moving through town. ... It's not good for the people who live in Palmdale or the businesses on the boulevard,'' Beattie said. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, map Photo: (1 -- color) You can't get there from here on Palmdale Boulevard, especially if it involves a left turn, above. Road work has narrowed the street to two lanes, backing up eastbound east·bound adj. Going toward the east. eastbound Adjective going towards the east Adj. 1. traffic. The 10 miles of repaving work, at a cost of $7.3 million, is scheduled to be complete in midsummer 2002. (2) Large machinery, work crews and ``no left turn'' signs to make motorists' lives miserable. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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