ROADS MAY LINK FREEWAYS; CITY CONSIDERING NEW EAST-WEST ROUTE.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

The city has started the first step in a lengthy process to build a series of roads to traverse the largely undeveloped center of town.

Last week, Santa Clarita's Planning Commission reviewed an environmental report outlining the plan to extend Via Princessa and Magic Mountain Parkway to form a major east-west route across the city.

The six-lane highway would run from the Antelope Valley Freeway to the Golden State Freeway.

The report looks at alternatives for building a link between San Fernando Road and Magic Mountain Parkway north of the Circle J neighborhood.

The report also looks at a Via Princessa extension on the east end of town, which would continue the road west of Whites Canyon Road.

The environmental report is still in the draft stage, and will be considered by the Planning Commission for possible approval next month.

Even with an approved impact report, however, the roads could take years to complete because construction requires coordination with developers of the Porta Bella project.

Porta Bella, located on former Bermite munitions factory land, is a proposed development of more than 2,900 homes, 91 acres of commercial and industrial property, a school, parks and 392 acres of open space.

Those developers will build the middle section of Via Princessa - the key link between the east and west portions of the roadway the city would oversee, said Christopher Price, supervising engineer for the city's building and engineering services department.

``We probably wouldn't start construction until we know that the piece in the middle will be constructed,'' Price said. ``What if something happens? What if they don't get the toxics cleaned up?'' The development of Porta Bella depends

on the success of a massive cleanup of the acreage.

Construction also depends on several other factors, such as the city's design plans, right-of-way acquisitions and financing, Price said. The estimated cost for the Magic Mountain Parkway/Via Princessa extension is about $47 million.

The impact report examines various alternatives for building a transition for Magic Mountain Parkway, which will rise over San Fernando Road. All three options would require a second road, or ramp to link the two roads.

The first and third designs are similar, linking the two roads with an elbow-shaped ramp on the northwest side. The two options would impede on the parking lot of a rental car business, but the space may be able to be relocated, Price said.

The options differ in that one has a right-turn island that could keep those cars traveling smoothly, Price said.

The second option, which would be in a similar elbow shape on the southwest side, may create a stir among old-time Santa Clarita residents and advocates of historical buildings: It would require the elimination of part or all of the Saugus Cafe.

The Saugus Cafe does not qualify as a historical building - it was rebuilt in the 1950s, making it just shy of 50 years old, Price said. But it is a well-known establishment.

``The row booths by the windows in the Saugus Cafe would be the second lane,'' Price said. ``The aisleway that runs through - that would be the right-turn lane.''

``That's what's hard when people say, Why didn't you look at this option? We try to find what's the best way to do this, what will be the least disruptive,'' Price said. ``What does the council want; what do residents want?''

Several alternatives are available for the Via Princessa alignment east of the future Golden Valley Road, but the design is easier because there is less development in the surrounding area, Price said.