ROAD WIDENING DELAYED; ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES NEEDED.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LITTLEROCK - Construction to widen Highway 138 between Avenue T and 165th Street East will be pushed back two years to 2003 to allow for the completion of environmental studies required for the entire corridor.

The state Transportation Department originally expected to begin construction on the first two of five widening projects for the highway in summer 2001. The federal government is requiring Caltrans to complete environmental studies on all five projects, which would widen the highway from Palmdale to the Highway 18 junction, before construction can begin.

``If we didn't have to combine the environmental studies, we could have done the first projects a lot sooner,'' said Tad Teferi, area manager for Caltrans. ``They want you to look at the total impact to the corridor.''

In addition to the requirement for studies for the entire corridor, there are some other hurdles to overcome before the highway can be widened from two lanes to four lanes.

Two post offices, one at 123rd Street East and another at 77th Street East, will have to be relocated, Teferi said.

Caltrans will also have to determine how to handle the widening near the ruins of the Llano Del Rio colony, a socialist community that existed from 1914 to 1918. The ruins, which include the stone pillars and chimney of a hotel, are located between 199th Street East and 213th Street East.

Caltrans will also need to acquire right-of-way along 700 parcels, which includes not only developed property through Littlerock, Pearblossom and Llano, but vacant desert whose owners might prove hard to locate.

Caltrans has $42 million for the construction of the first two projects, but does not yet have funding for the construction between 165th Street East and the Highway 18 junction. That is projected to cost $45 million.

Caltrans does have funding for the design work and environmental studies for the last three projects.

Antelope Valley officials haven't given up hope that they can find a way to keep the widening work on track. Los Angeles County officials, led by Supervisor Mike Antonovich, and representatives of Palmdale and Lancaster will discuss the situation at a transportation summit later this month.

Antelope Valley officials have long wanted to widen Highway 138, which carries more than 21,000 vehicles a day and is the region's main link to San Bernardino County. They intensified their lobbying after crashes in August 1998 left three people dead and nine injured.

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Photo: (color) Traffic moves along Highway 138 through Littlerock, which Caltrans has delayed widening.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer