Santa Monica Boulevard's facelift is finally on track.

One of Los Angeles' most congested thoroughfares is about to be opened up.

The reconfiguration of a two-mile stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard between the San Diego (405) Freeway and the Beverly Hills city limit near Wilshire Boulevard is moving forward. thanks to a $216 billion transit bill approved by Congress late last month. The bill earmarks $17 million for the local project.

The plan, in the works for years, calls for Little Santa Monica Boulevard to be merged with Santa Monica Boulevard - making it one big road with three lanes in each direction and a median separating the two sides.

"We have felt that there has been a real need for many years," said Linda Smith Frost, marketing manager for Century City Shopping Center and Marketplace, which is located along the thoroughfare. "This is really good news. It puts the project back on track."

L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, whose Westside district includes the boulevards, has been championing the project since 1991.

"We have been trying to correct the most awkward roadway in the city for years and it is finally going to happen," he said. "It is an absurdity that this roadway has not been reengineered. This will create better opportunities for businesses and public transportation."

Engineers say the project will greatly alleviate traffic congestion in the area as well. Sam Erkrami. Santa Monica Boulevard project manager for Caltrans, said studies have shown that the amount of time required to traverse the two-mile stretch would triple by the year 2020, if the reconfiguration were not done.

The proposed roadway is designed to include bike paths and room for public transportation. It also calls for reconstruction of the north and southbound on- and off-ramps to the 405 freeway, adding carpool lanes to the ramps.

Construction on the roadway is set to begin in January 2000 and should be completed by 2002. The total cost is estimated to be about $68 million - $53 million of which has already been allocated by the state and federal governments. Another $15 million may come from the Federal Transit Agency, according to Caltrans officials.

Peter De Haan, project manager for the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is working with Caltrans on the project, said the environmental impact study is already underway. The design calling for three lanes on each side of the road seems the most popular right now, but another alternative may be considered in the future, De Haan said.

As with any project of this size and scope, the overhaul has kicked up some controversy. Two major issues of contention have been the fate of the numerous billboards along the strip of land that separates Little Santa Monica and Santa Monica boulevards, and the effect the widening will have on access to adjacent businesses and neighborhoods.

According to the office of L.A. Councilman Michael Feuer, in whose district the project will take place, the billboards' leases will be bought out with some of the money allocated for the new road. Billboards on either side of what will be the new, broader roadway are on private properly and will remain.

As for the access issue, De Haan of the MTA said side roads will be built to provide access to the businesses and neighborhoods, though specifics about that part of the plan have not nailed down.

Laura Lake, a community activist who claims to represent 500 area businesses and families, said removal of the billboards is welcome, but the access issue remains.

"(Removal of) the billboards is the only carrot being offered," Lake said. "We love the (proposed) landscaping, but we are extremely concerned about eliminating any part of Little Santa Monica. It represents the greatest protection against commuter intrusion into residential streets. It would really kill a lot of the local businesses."

Assuming President Clinton signs the measure into law, as expected, Los Angeles County will get more than $245 million in transportation funds from the federal bill. Most of that funding will go toward paying for the Alameda Corridor, a proposed 20-mile truck/rail link between local seaports and downtown L.A.