ROAD FUNDING ON HORIZON CROSS-VALLEY CONNECTOR PLANNED.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The end of a long and winding road is in sight.

After myriad delays and years of slowly piecing together the $245 million needed to build a new east-west route across the city, part of the road is open - and Santa Clarita is just $30 million away from opening the initial phase of the cross-valley connector, officials said.

``The momentum is growing, and we're very confident that we can plug the remaining holes,'' said Robert Newman, the city's director of transportation and engineering services.

The cross-valley connector, which will link the Golden State Freeway with the Antelope Valley Freeway via Golden Valley Road and Newhall Ranch Road, has been the Santa Clarita City Council's highest transportation priority for nearly two years.

Officials have already spent $123 million from a variety of sources to build the road, which will provide access to the soon-to-be-built Golden Valley High School, the new Centre Pointe Business Park and several new subdivisions. The industrial center is expected to bring more than 5,000 jobs to Canyon Country.

In April, the first section of road, from Sierra Highway to Redview Drive, opened, providing a smoother route to the city's Sports Complex.

Construction is under way on the next phases, from the Antelope Valley Freeway to Sierra Highway and from Redview Drive to Soledad Canyon Road. Those are scheduled to open next year, Newman said.

``We're building it as fast as possible,'' Newman said. ``The lack of funding isn't slowing us down at all.''

The city needs an additional $69 million to open the initial phase of the road, featuring only four lanes and minimal landscaping, Newman said.

Of those costs, nearly $40 million is expected to be covered by development-related fees and the value of land dedicated to the city for the street's right-of-way, Newman said.

The Newhall Land and Farming Co. is crafting plans for River Park, a 1,500-home development along the banks of the Santa Clara River that is expected to include retail and commercial centers, company officials said.

Golden Valley Road will link to Newhall Ranch Road with a bridge over the river and eventually meet Bouquet Canyon Road in Saugus. The bridge alone will cost $42 million, according to city estimates.

City officials are hopeful that the remaining funding gap can be filled with state and federal money, Newman said.

U.S. Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, has requested $8 million from the federal budget to be used to construct an elevated interchange between Golden Valley Road and Soledad Canyon Road. The total cost of the ``flyover'' is more than $30 million.

``That federal money is critical,'' Newman said.

The federal budget will not be finalized until October.

The city is expected to spend about $6.8 million in local money on the interchange, according to the proposed 2002-03 budget.

The city has requested $5 million for the interchange from the state's Public Utilities Commission, Newman added.

``That would get us most of the way there,'' he said.

City officials will request an additional $16 million from the Metropolitan Transit Authority next year to build Newhall Ranch Road from Soledad Canyon Road to Bouquet Canyon Road, according to Mark Yamarone, the city's transportation funding coordinator.

``We're confident we'll get that money,'' Yamarone said.

The project's progress is a sharp contrast to the holdups that plagued the start of the road construction in April 2000.

Part of the road traverses the defunct Bermite explosives factory, which is polluted with toxins and unexploded ordnance waste left over from decades of Department of Defense contract work.

After a dispute with the property's owner, the City Council was forced to condemn the land's right-of-way and take it through eminent domain, an action that is still pending in Los Angeles District Court.

``There are critical dates up ahead,'' Newman said. ``But we're making great progress.''