Antelope Valley 14 Freeway Safety and Mobility Improvements Project
Palmdale, CA. -Antelope Valley residents who drive the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway through Santa Clarita are being urged to provide comments to Caltrans about how to improve traffic safety on the freeway.
Comments on the SR-14 North Los Angeles County Safety and Mobility Improvement Project can be submitted to:
Comments must be submitted by Dec. 4.
Motorists are urged to emphasize the risk of crashes and the unreliability for timely transportation because of the traffic jams that occur where lanes end and the freeway narrows.
More information is available at:
Purpose
The purpose of the project is to enhance safety by aligning with the California Safe System Approach, enhance multimodal transportation options, reduce diversion onto parallel routes, and provide equitable multimodal components, while minimizing impacts to the community and the environment within the SR14 corridor.
Need
Segments along the SR-14 corridor experience collision rates higher than the statewide average and unreliable travel times caused by mandatory lane changes on the mainline and ramps. SR-14 is a lifeline route and Strategic Highway Corridor Network corridor that facilitates goods movement and serves as the only major connection for north Los Angeles County residents. SR-14 also serves as the only regional bypass route when there is an incident/closure on I-5 between SR-14 and SR-138. Lane drops and changes in grades cause safety and operational challenges, especially for trucks. In addition, the SR-14 corridor contains limited multimodal and habitat connectivity infrastructure, which leads to incidents involving vulnerable road users and wildlife. Local roadways experience congestion during mainline collision events caused by vehicles diverting onto local roadways. Existing collision rates and travel times would worsen on the SR-14 mainline and parallel routes with anticipated increases in future traffic by design year 2050.
Suggested points to tell Caltrans
SR-14 is considered a lifeline route in north Los Angeles County. Antelope Valley commuting times to the Los Angeles Basin can exceed 2.5 hours.
SR-14 freeway in the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita Valley experiences a higher number of collisions than the California state average and there is a need for safety improvements to help traffic flow.
The AV and SCV need more transportation options – Metrolink needs more trains along the Antelope Valley Line to connect to AV and SCV buses.
Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita Valley residents and businesses request the SR14 to be safer with more reliable travel times. Accidents occur along the SR-14 because the lanes are constantly changing and disappearing – this must be fixed! Fixing the SR-14 “lane drop” problem would improve traffic flow and make the SR-14 safer to travel!
Caltrans has scheduled “scoping meetings” as an initial step toward creating an environmental impact report analyzing options for improving Antelope Valley Freeway traffic safety.
The meetings are:
6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, at Lancaster City Hall’s City Council Chambers, 44933 Fern Ave., Lancaster.
10 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday, Nov. 16, in Cedar Hall in The Centre on Centre Pointe Parkway, 20880 Centre Pointe Parkway, Santa Clarita.
6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, at Palmdale Oasis Park Recreation Center, 3850 East Ave. S, Palmdale.
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