ROAD REOPENING DELAYED SAN FRANCISQUITO CANYON DRIVERS CUT OFF.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST - Antelope Valley commuters who drove San Francisquito Canyon Road to Santa Clarita may have to wait months longer than expected for the storm-damaged road to reopen.

The expected reopening of the road, which already has been closed for nearly five months, has been delayed from Dec. 31 to March 2006, and it could be pushed back again because of difficulties in getting environmental approvals from state and federal agencies, Los Angeles County officials said.

``It's not just a unilateral thing for us. It's a matter of getting all the required approvals for the work we going to do and examining the options we're going through,'' county Department of Public Works spokesman Ken Pellman said. ``There's different options, and we're trying to determine what would be the best in the long run.''

With complaints mounting from people who used the road, county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich is prodding public-works officials to get it open and is checking whether additional resources could speed up progress, his staff said.

``The supervisor is pushing public-works (officials) very hard to open that road up by the end of the year,'' aide Norm Hickling said.

County road officials said they have not made a decision on whether to create a one-lane detour along a dirt road as a temporary route while work continues on the permanent road.

A Jan. 9-10 storm washed out the road along a stretch where it crosses back and forth over San Francisquito Creek between Saugus and the mountain hamlet of Green Valley.

The closure means that residents of Green Valley, Lake Hughes or Elizabeth Lake, as well as commuters from elsewhere in the Antelope Valley, must drive miles out of their way along Bouquet Canyon Road or Lake Hughes Road to get to Santa Clarita.

Bouquet Canyon Road, an alternate commuter route to the east, reopened in March, but repair work continues on it as well. Water from Bouquet Creek still runs across parts of the twisting road.

To avoid future storm washouts on San Francisquito Canyon Road, county road officials have proposed moving a 1 1/2-mile segment where it runs through a marshy section of the creek bed.

Instead of following the creek bed, the road would run along a hillside on the creek's western bank. That would require building a new bridge about 4 1/2 miles north of Saugus.

Rebuilding the road requires approvals from the Army Corps of Engineers because of the adjoining stream, the state Department of Fish and Game because the area is habitat for protected species, and the U.S. Forest Service because it is within Angeles National Forest.

Complicating plans for a new bridge is the presence of a small fish called the unarmored three-spine stickleback, an endangered species that, under federal law, it is illegal to harm.

``There are some issues biologically with the bridge. We have to be very careful because there are sticklebacks in that creek,'' said Cid Morgan, the Forest Service ranger for that part of the Angeles National Forest.

County officials said they have been told the environmental reviews would be the same for building the bridge as for rebuilding the road on its former site, since the former route lies so close to the creek.

``A lot of residents are asking about that. It's still a matter of going through the permit process,'' Hickling said.

Rebuilding the road along its former route remains a possibility, but road officials say they want to avoid that.

Road officials are also considering reopening the road to one-way traffic at certain hours, possibly using a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power bridge across the creek and a dirt road, Pellman said.

That approach was used recently on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in the Malibu area, he said.

Road department spokeswoman True Pawluk said road officials expect to call a public meeting for area residents when they reach a conclusion on the road. No date has been set.

Charles F. Bostwick, [phone]

chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com