HIGHWAY PROJECTS STALLED CONSTRUCTION WORK DEFERRED ONE TO FOUR YEARS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A proposed construction project to widen the Antelope Valley Freeway and a second proposal to reconfigure the Avenue I interchange will be delayed - by four years and one year, respectively - under a state plan.

Trying to stretch the limited dollars it has for projects, the California Transportation Commission will shelve the two Antelope Valley Freeway projects in its 2002 State Transportation Improvement Program. The state commission approved the STIP plan April 4.

One of the deferred projects is the addition of a car-pool lane in each direction between Avenue P-8 and Avenue I. Under the plan, this will be postponed from 2003 to 2007. The project was estimated to cost $31.9 million.

The second proposed construction, a reconfiguration of the Avenue I interchange, will be deferred from 2005 to 2006. The estimated cost of that project is $8.3 million.

STIP is a five-year plan based on estimates of how much money will be available for projects and when those funds would be available.

As projects nominated for STIP came forward, regional planning agencies and the state Department of Transportation wanted projects scheduled in the first years of the plan. Tax dollars for projects, however, were expected to be more plentiful toward the later years of the program.

``We asked the regions and Caltrans, How would you like to see this picture?'' said Diane Eidam, the CTC's executive director. ``We tried to accommodate them to the extent we could.''

There could be adjustments made to the state transportation improvements plan during CTC meetings in June and July. However, if a project were to be moved to the earlier years of the plan, a trade-off would have to be made by delaying another project or projects.

Postponing the Antelope Valley Freeway projects would only increase their costs, said Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, who asked that the CTC and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority work together to ensure that the projects remain on their original schedules.

``Given the increased cost associated with the potential delay, it seems outrageous not to resolve this issue immediately,'' Runner said. ``I am working with MTA to convince CTC to reconsider the proposed delay of these projects in the Antelope Valley.''

Runner argued that the delay is unacceptable, given how important the freeway is to commuters and because the delay could add as much as $11 million to the car-pool-lane project and $800,000 to the Avenue I interchange project.

``I am very concerned about the CTC's action, which could delay two very important projects in north Los Angeles County,'' Runner said. ``Continuing the HOV lanes from Pearblossom Highway to Avenue P-8 and the State Route 14/Avenue I interchange improvement projects are very important to our community, and should not be delayed.''