No More ‘Bypass Lanes’ In Place On 5 Freeway Near Santa Clarita

There are no more “bypass lanes” in place on the 5 Freeway near Santa Clarita, after years of construction, officials said.

In summer 2017, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) started replacing placement to improve the 5 Freeway corridor through the Santa Clarita Valley, according to Michael Comeaux, spokesperson for CalTrans.

“That is it for the ‘bypass lanes’ for this project,” Comeaux said. “The anticipated completion for the project is late summer or autumn.”

During the next stages of the construction project, overnight lane closures could be expected, according to CalTrans officials.

“Some closures are expected to continue,” Comeaux said. “There is still some grinding of the surface that needs to be done on the new lanes.”

Comeaux explained that CalTrans opened up lanes “as soon as possible” to ease traffic concerns before the “finishing touches” were completed.

“There has to be some grading to make sure the new slabs are level to the adjacent ones,” Comeaux said. “There is still some work to be done.”

Two Projects, One Freeway

The CalTrans component is only one project on the 5 Freeway through Santa Clarita, which sees about one million vehicles per week, according to Comeaux.

In addition to CalTrans, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) is in the planning stages of a project on the 5 Freeway.

The goal of the Metro project is to construct 14 miles of carpool lanes from the Highway 14 interchange to Parker Road along the median, according to officials.

Other enhancements include an extension of the northbound truck lane from Gavin Canyon undercrossing to Calgrove Boulevard off-ramp, the addition of a southbound truck lane from Calgrove Bl on-ramp to SR-14, and the addition of auxiliary lanes, according to Metro.

The Metro project is expected to begin construction after the CalTrans project is completed.

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