DAMAGED ROUTE TO REOPEN LIMITED TRAFFIC WILL BE LED DOWN VALLEY LINK.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - Storm-damaged San Francisquito Canyon Road, a major link between the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys, will reopen Tuesday on a limited basis for commuter traffic.

Vehicles will be led by a pilot vehicle in one direction at a time across a narrow bridge and along a 1.8-mile dirt bypass route in early weekday mornings and evenings, county officials announced.

``San Francisquito Canyon is an essential commuter link for residents of Green Valley, Lake Hughes, Leona Valley and Lake Elizabeth, who have faced delays on other routes,'' county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said in an announcement of the reopening. ``Although the completion of the entire roadway will take several more months, I am pleased that we are now able to permit travel along San Francisquito during the morning and evening commuter windows.''

The road will be open to traffic in both directions from 4:30 to 8:30 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday where the road was washed out between Green Valley and Newhall. The road will be closed at other times for repair work to continue.

Motorists can expect delays as they line up to wait for the pilot car, but officials on Friday didn't know how long the waits will be.

Public works officials will be present Tuesday to see how smoothly the arrangement works and to make changes if necessary, said Antonovich aide Norm Hickling, adding that he will be there as well.

Public works officials hope to have the complete road reopened along a new route less subject to flooding by mid-March, but the opening date is dependent on environmental studies and getting permission from state and federal agencies for the revised route.

``The supervisor would still like to see it expedited as much as possible,'' Hickling said of completing the rerouted road.

San Francisquito has been closed since it was washed out by a Jan. 9-10 storm where it crosses back and forth over San Francisquito Creek.

The road was originally expected to reopen by January, but last month county officials said the closure was likely to last months longer because of difficulties in getting environmental approvals from state and federal agencies.

The closure means that residents of Green Valley, Lake Hughes or Elizabeth Lake, as well as commuters from elsewhere in the Antelope Valley, must drive miles out of their way along Bouquet Canyon Road or Lake Hughes Road to get to Santa Clarita.

Bouquet Canyon Road, an alternate commuter route to the east, reopened in March, but repair work continues on it as well. Water from Bouquet Creek still runs across parts of the twisting road.

To avoid future storm washouts on San Francisquito Canyon Road, county road officials have proposed moving a 1 1/2-mile segment where it runs through a marshy section of the creek bed.

Instead of following the creek bed, the road would run along a hillside on the creek's western bank. That would require building a new bridge about 4 1/2 miles north of Saugus.

The area is habitat for protected species, including a tiny endangered fish called the unarmored three-spine stickleback that lives where the bridge is planned. The area also lies within Angeles National Forest.