CalTrans Postpones State Route 14 Scoping Meetings, Further Delaying Improvements
CalTrans, in partnership with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), planned on holding two scoping meetings to receive public input on enhancing the safety of State Route 14 (SR-14). However, less than a week before the first scoping meeting was to be held, it was announced that the meetings would be postponed for an undetermined period of time.
The North Los Angeles County Transportation Coalition (NCTC), consisting of the cities of Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Lancaster and the County’s Fifth District, have been working with regional and state officials for several years to secure investments to improve safety and traffic flow on SR-14. The scoping meetings are the initial step in the environmental study phase of improving SR-14 and public feedback would help guide the Project team in considering various improvement options.
Representing the City of Santa Clarita on the NCTC, Santa Clarita City Councilwoman Marsha McLean has been involved in many discussions and meetings with state and regional transportation agencies to emphasize the need for safety improvements on SR-14.
“I am deeply disappointed that the scoping meetings were postponed, especially after 40,000 mailers were sent out to residents and given the fact that the meetings were postponed less than a week before the first meeting was to be held,” said Councilwoman McLean. “I cannot stress enough how critical these improvements are to those living, working and visiting the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys, not to mention the impacts to the goods movement along this corridor. As part of the NCTC Board of Directors, I have advocated for a number of years for safety improvements to relieve the chokepoints along SR-14, as studies have shown a disproportionate amount of collisions in these areas. I worry that the postponement of these public scoping meetings will only delay these much-needed improvements, causing an even greater risk and continued travel delays for those traveling daily along SR-14. It is imperative that CalTrans and Metro immediately reschedule these scoping meetings to be held as soon as possible.”
To learn more about this Project, please visit Metro.net/Projects/14Safety/. To contact officials regarding postponement of the scoping meetings, please call (213) 922-4222 or email SR14@metro.net.
