PALMDALE – A Measure R Equity Grant funded project designed to reduce bottlenecks and improve traffic flow on a stretch of Antelope Valley 14 Freeway/State Route (SR) 138 in Palmdale was completed in early Feb. 2020.
The project, which broke ground in October 2018 , added an acceleration lane on southbound SR 14 from Technology Drive to north of Palmdale Blvd. to eliminate bottlenecks, and widened the northbound Rancho Vista Blvd. off-ramp to increase storage and eliminate bottlenecks for both left-turn and right-turn traffic.
It is the first of 11 planned Measure R Equity Grant funds projects along the Highway 138/14 corridor, five of which are in Palmdale. In 2011, the North County Transportation Coalition (NCTC) was allocated $200 million through Measure R to help design and construct un-built segments of SR 138 within Los Angeles County.
“The traffic improvements alone will benefit commuters and truckers who use the routes daily by reducing travel time, congestion, and pollution,” said Palmdale Mayor Steve Hofbauer. “It was also an economic boost, bringing over 100 good-paying jobs to our region. The staff and contractors worked diligently to finish the first Measure R project in the region under budget which is amazing.”
“I’m very proud to see how all these different agencies — the Cities of Palmdale and Lancaster, North County Transportation Commission, LA County, LA Metro, CalTrans—and companies in the private sector like CA Rasmussen and Psomas— combined forces to make real improvements for our community,” said Palmdale City Manager J.J. Murphy. “Great things really do happen when people and agencies work together for the common good.”
The project budget was $25 million, with construction and design costs at $15.2 million. Savings from this project will be re-allocated to the other Measure R projects. The project was managed by the City of Palmdale and Psomas. It was fully designed by Caltrans, and constructed by CA Rasmussen, Inc. of Santa Clarita.
The next phase of work will improve the capacities of both the north and southbound off-ramps of the 14 freeway at Palmdale Blvd.
For more information, call the Department of Public Works at 661-267-5300.
[Information via news release from the city of Palmdale.]
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Jason Zink says
Glad to see progress but the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster took $200 Million that should of been used on death trap Hwy 138 as a priority over these projects… spend money where people die and are maimed first in AV, just my opinion from someone who lost a brother and many friends over the years on Hwy 138. They didn’t even put in $10,000 worth of landscaping to make it look nice on a $25 Million dollar project….it’s crazy. Welcome to ugly AV and we want people to invest here. The other mistake is two lanes on booth sides should of been prepared there for the future not just building one at a time. Plan it out and buy the right-of-ways now. Not smart, it’s penny wise and pound foolish. This will be a major bottleneck with the New Freeway on Ave P8(north of Technology Dr.) added in the future. More common sense priorities, vision and planning and smart leadership is needed for AV. How hard would it of been to go to Home Depot and buy some bushes to make project and AV nicer. Old saying “this is the bed we made”. How about Bypass-lanes on Hwy 138 and 18 and off-ramps and on-ramps at Ave O-8 and Technology.