Home › News › Local News
Next phase of 118 project funded
More lanes and ramps to be added
Download this story as a podcast!
STORY TOOLS 
More from Local NewsWith work on one side of Highway 118 ahead of schedule, the California Transportation Commission decided Friday to earmark $32 million to complete the rest of the highway widening project.
The recommendation was part of the state's annual master transportation plan — called the STIP — and is slotted for the 2008-09 budget year, said Darren Kettle, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission.
"This is really good news," said Kettle. "We were not expecting to get anything for three years, but this will definitely move things up."
The $46.5 million first-phase project includes widening the eastbound side of the highway from three lanes to four, adding electronic monitoring devices to provide real-time traffic data to Caltrans, and building sound walls.
It is estimated to be about 14 months ahead of schedule, according to California Department of Transportation officials.
The contractor is C.A. Rasmussen of Simi Valley.
The overall widening project goes from Tapo Canyon Road to the Los Angeles County line, and also includes the widening of four bridges along that stretch of the highway.
The work on the first phase began in March 2007, even though money for the second phase wasn't guaranteed.
The second phase involves adding a lane to the westbound side of the highway.
Construction is likely to begin toward the end of this year, state officials said.
Caltrans is also constructing a westbound onramp and an eastbound offramp at Rocky Peak Road on Highway 118. Rocky Peak Road is about two miles east of Kuehner Drive in Simi Valley and two miles west of Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth.
The $9.1 million Rocky Peak Road interchange is expected to be completed in late 2009.
Posted by SayItLikeItIs on May 10, 2008 at 10:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like the private sector is more efficient in building roads. Congrats!
Posted by Common_Sense on May 10, 2008 at 4:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yup...I am sure there are bonuses attached to early completion. Similar to the repair of bridges after the Northridge quake. Politicians should read this and see this example that things operate much more efficiently in the private sector.
Posted by smithjc on May 10, 2008 at 8:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
if they were like caltrans and had 5 supervisors to every worker, they'd never get anything done.
Posted by rg on May 10, 2008 at 10:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm glad they are ahead of schedule. But I don't understand why this project was needed before widening the freeway going up the hill from Moorpark to Simi. That hill is slow even when traffic is light.
Posted by The_Shane on May 17, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
as long as they're UNION.
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.