Woodland Hills : Freeway Renovation Nearing Completion

A major portion of a new interchange at the west end of Woodland Hills is expected to be complete and ready for traffic early next month, officials said Tuesday.

The $10-million project at Valley Circle Boulevard and Mulholland Drive was designed to improve traffic flow from Calabasas to the Los Angeles side of the Ventura Freeway. Meanwhile, construction, which began in January, 1994, has forced numerous detours that have snarled traffic and tried motorists’ patience.

The project’s completion can’t come fast enough for Calabasas City Engineer Robert Yalda.

“I’m getting at least two calls a day from people complaining, and there is only so much I can do,” he said. “I even have people calling me names.”

The renovation consists of a new, six-lane bridge over the Ventura Freeway, to replace an old, four-lane bridge, and redesigned westbound freeway on-ramps and off-ramps.

Those components, along with the extension of Ventura Boulevard to Valley Circle, will be complete in about two weeks, officials said. Meanwhile, they said, the eastbound on-ramp will open in January. Officials said the old bridge must be torn down to make way for the renovated on-ramp.

The project, which was redesigned to avoid encroaching on Old Town Calabasas, was delayed for about a month last winter due to heavy rains, said Jim McAllister, resident engineer for Caltrans, which is overseeing the project. There has been talk of a strike at plants that supply the project’s gravel, which could cause additional delays, he said.