RECONSTRUCTION OF 1-5 BRIDGES ON TARGET FOR '05 COMPLETION WORK ON TWIN SPANS PART OF 17-MILE IMPROVEMENT PLAN.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - While motorists might grumble about construction on the Golden State Freeway bridges through the Santa Clarita Valley corridor, officials said the $35 million project is progressing on schedule.

Started in January 2002, reconstruction of the bridges over Magic Mountain Parkway and just north over the Santa Clara River represent the halfway point in a seven-part improvement project funded at the federal, state and local levels.

``There used to be a gap between the north- and southbound lanes on these two bridges. We're filling in that gap so, in the future, it will be possible to add more lanes,'' said Jagdish Patel, senior resident engineer for the California Department of Transportation.

Work on the Magic Mountain Parkway bridge has forced the closure of the northbound on-ramp and worsened congestion at nearby intersections. But Patel said the project is on schedule to finish in May 2005.

Caltrans is overseeing the improvements to a 17-mile stretch of the freeway in partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Federal Highway Administration, the city of Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County and The Newhall Land and Farming Company.

Newhall Land, which is developing the proposed 21,000-home Newhall Ranch project, is paying for about one-third of the reconstruction to the two bridges - an estimated $11.6 million.

Columns that support the bridge over the Santa Clara River began to erode after nearly 50 inches of rain pounded the region in the El Nino-fueled storms of 1997 and 1998, sparking concerns about stability.

``The Santa Clara bridge is really a scour mitigation project,'' Patel said. ``With the erosion of the riverbed, the bridge's footing was exposed. This work is taking care of that.''

Both reconstructed bridges will be wider than the original bridges, Patel said.

Widening the Magic Mountain bridge will help with congestion on the street below, benefiting local motorists, he said.

The fifth project in the plan - improvements to the I-5/State Route 126 interchange and widening of the 126 between I-5 and Commerce Center Drive - began this spring and is scheduled for completion in January 2005.

Amy Raisin, [phone]

amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jagdish Patel, senior resident engineer for Caltrans, walks around newly poured concrete Thursday on the bridge construction project over Magic Mountain Parkway on the Golden State Freeway.

(2) Traffic passes by the construction work for a bridge at Magic Mountain Parkway, which is slated for completion in 2005.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer