LOOKING AT A.V. OF FUTURE; TRANSIT PLANNERS UNVEIL NEW FREEWAY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

A wider Antelope Valley Freeway (14) and a ``High Desert Corridor'' freeway linking Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties will be part of 21st Century Antelope Valley, transportation officials said Tuesday.

The new freeway - extending from the Antelope Valley Freeway (14) at Avenue P-8 and running east to Interstate 15 - is envisioned by transportation planners as a gateway for the Palmdale Regional Airport.

``P-8 is going to be the highway of our future,'' Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said. ``This (the corridor) links the population growth areas of the counties.''

The High Desert Corridor was among the projects discussed at the Antelope Valley Board of Trade's transportation symposium held in Lancaster, which attracted about 70 business and civic leaders to the Antelope Valley Inn.

The symposium was a look at the region's transportation needs going into the year 2020.

The California Department of Transportation is conducting a study to determine what is the best route for the corridor.

The first phase would stretch along Avenue P-8 from the Antelope Valley Freeway to 50th Street East. Caltrans estimates that stretch alone will cost $156.9 million. So far, the project is only in the concept stages.

A more immediate reality for Antelope Valley residents will be the widening of the Antelope Valley Freeway and Highway 138.

There are more than $142 million worth of improvements planned for the Antelope Valley Freeway, including adding car-pool lanes from the Interstate 5 interchange to Avenue P-8 and improving the Avenue L, Avenue I, and Avenue H interchanges.

Of the $142 million in projects, there are already projects totaling nearly $60 million that are in various stages of construction. With the exception of the Avenue I interchange improvements, all of the projects are slated to be completed by 2004. No date has been set for the Avenue I project.