DOZENS OF ROADS REMAIN CLOSED EAST VALLEY TRAVEL HURT FOR MONTHS.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LAKE LOS ANGELES - More than two dozen Antelope Valley roads remain closed a week after the Southland's latest round of torrential rains, and some roads could stay closed for months.

As of Monday, Los Angeles County officials listed 19 roads closed from the Feb. 19-21 storm, and 11 are still shut from the Jan. 9-10 storm.

``We can't get in there to even clean there until the water stops flowing. There's no way to stop the water from flowing. We're waiting for Mother Nature to stop,'' True Pawluk, a Roads Department spokeswoman, said.

Most of the closures are in the eastern part of the valley, where dozens of two-lane roads lack bridges to cross the normally dry Little Rock and Big Rock washes, which meander from the San Gabriel Mountains to Rosamond and Rogers dry lakes on Edwards Air Force Base.

Palmdale Boulevard has reopened between Lake Los Angeles and Palmdale, but Avenue J - Lake Los Angeles' most direct route to Lancaster - could stay closed until late April, county officials say.

Meanwhile, county road officials are keeping their fingers crossed that they can open Bouquet Canyon Road for morning and evening commuter traffic by March 31.

The Feb. 19-21 storms left mud and debris on the road, but didn't undermine sections already repaired after the Jan. 9-10 storms, Pawluk said.

San Francisquito Canyon Road to the west is expected to stay closed through October. Both those roads were heavily damaged in the Jan. 9-10 storm.

East valley roads that could stay closed for months include 110th Street East between Avenues K and L; 120th Street East between Avenues I and H, and Avenue I between 90th and 120th Street East, which aren't expected to open until July.

Avenue Q between 130th and 140th Streets East is expected to be closed until May, and Avenue S from Longview Road to 165th Street East until April.

For east valley residents, the closures have meant driving miles out of their way.

Antelope Valley Transit Agency buses have made a five-mile detour for the past week to get around Little Rock Wash's crossing of Palmdale Boulevard. Flooding kept shuttle buses out of some areas of Lake Los Angeles.

``It does disrupt our service,'' AVTA spokeswoman Pam Holland said.

The closings and detours also kept school buses from getting to all their passengers' homes, and last week some school bus routes took up to an hour longer than before the storms.

Both the AVTA and the Antelope Valley Schools Transportation Agency had employees scouting last week for open routes safe for their buses to travel.

``It's been a challenge and certainly gets down to the drivers, and I commend them,'' said Jene Jansen, the school bus agency's executive officer.

Building bridges or installing culverts to keep Palmdale Boulevard and other east valley streets open during and after storms would be expensive because the terrain is so flat and the washes so wide, Pawluk said.

``It's so wide they can't guess where the water will flow. Each time in a storm it flows differently,'' she said. ``One year it might flow in one place and a quarter-mile away in another year.''

REOPENINGS SCHEDULED

Closed Antelope Valley roads and their expected dates for opening to through traffic.

110th Street East from Avenue H to I: July 1

110th Street East from Avenue I to K: April 20

110th Street East from Avenue K to L: July 15

120th Street East from Avenue H to I: July 1

140th Street East from Palmdale Boulevard to Avenue Q: March 20

145th Street East from Avenue O to Q: March 20

150th Street East from Palmdale Boulevard to Avenue R: April 10

150th Street East from Palmdale Boulevard to Avenue Q-3: March 20

50th Street East from Avenue E to D: April 20

50th Street West from Avenue L to L-2: March 22

Arrastre Canyon Road beyond rehabilitation center: Sunday

Avenue A from 60th to 170th Street West: Wednesday

Avenue B from 90th to 110th Street West: Wednesday

Avenue F from 40th to 60th Street East: March 20

Avenue F-8 from 60th to 70th Street East: March 20

Avenue H from 40th to 60th Street East: March 20

Avenue I from 90th to 120th Street East: July 1

Avenue J from 90th to 140th Street East: April 20

Avenue K from 90th to 140th Street East: March 15

Avenue L-14 east of 50th Street West: March 15

Avenue Q from 130th to 145th Street East: May 1

Avenue S from Longview Road to 165th Street East: April 1

Avenue T from Longview Road to 165th Street East: Friday

Bouquet Canyon Road: Part-time opening March 31

Frontier Circus Street: Wednesday

Lancaster Road from Avenue D to 210th Street West: March 22

Mount Emma Road from Cheseboro Road to Fort Tejon Road: Wednesday

Pine Canyon Road from Lake Hughes Road to Three Points Road: Thursday

San Francisquito Canyon Road: Oct. 31

Three Points Road from Pine Canyon Road to Lancaster Road: Monday

Source: Los Angeles County Department of Public Works 

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) A stop sign at Avenue J and 110th Street East remains upended and twisted Monday in the wake of January and February storms and flooding.

(2 -- color) Storm-damaged Avenue J is expected to remain closed to through traffic from 90th to 140th Street East until April 20.

(3) no caption (corner of 110th Street East)

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Special to the Daily News

Box:

REOPENINGS SCHEDULED (see text)