STUDY FINDS TOLL HIGHWAY UNFEASIBLE COST WOULD BE $3.6 BILLION.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A $12,000 study commissioned by the city of Palmdale concluded a private toll highway through the Angeles National Forest - one proposal for easing Antelope Valley Freeway congestion - is not feasible.

But Antelope Valley officials say the idea still has merit and may yet become a reality as the region grows and requires an alternative to the existing freeway.

Designing and building a highway from Palmdale to Glendale would cost $2.2 billion, with another $20 million a year in operating and maintenance costs, according to VRPA Technologies of San Diego.

Counting debt service for a 30-year financing plan, the final price tag for such a highway would approach $3.6 billion.

Using a toll rate of 20 cents a mile, a rate the consultants say motorists would be willing to pay for a highway providing significant travel time savings, the highway would take in $2.7 billion over 30 years in revenue.

That leaves a $900 million shortfall, making such a project infeasible for a private developer/operator, the study says.

A public/private partnership for such a project could break even after 30 years, but it would require an annual commitment from taxpayers of $121.4 million.

Despite the high price tag, Antelope Valley officials say the idea should not be dismissed just yet.

``We are going to have to do something like that,'' said Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts, a board member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. ``Having just State Route 14 just isn't reasonable. I don't think it (the Angeles highway) is dead.''

The idea of building such a highway has surfaced a number of times over the last 20 years. Antelope Valley officials believe such a highway would provide a more convenient means into the Los Angeles basin than Angeles Forest Highway, a two-lane mountain road whose route it would approximately follow.

It would also provide an alternative route to the rest of Los Angeles County if an earthquake closed off the Antelope Valley Freeway.

A 1999 study conducted for the Southern California Association of Governments examined a tunnel route, about 21 miles long, that would start from the Sierra Highway/Soledad Canyon Road interchange and connect with the Interstate 210/Highway 2 interchange.

That study concluded that building the tunnel route would cost $1.8 billion, compared with $2.3 billion for a conventional road. Design work and land acquisition would be added to those figures.

The idea of an alternative route linking the Antelope Valley to the Los Angeles basin is being considered in a MTA study of north Los Angeles County's transportation needs.

While primarily focused on near-term goals, such as enlarging the Antelope Valley Freeway to its ultimate width, MTA planners said there is consensus that an alternative route will be needed.

``Everything has its time,'' said Mark Bozigian, an assistant to Lancaster's city manager. ``Maybe that project will have its time.''