Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Hwy Corridor Progressing with Alternatives

News from the Victor Valley Daily Press indicates progress for the Hwy Corridor. There was a recent meeting in late July with The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority and Caltrans regarding the proposed route connecting the Victor and Antelope Valleys. They are proposing an eight-lane High Desert Corridor that will stretch over 60 miles between the two cities of Palmdale and Victorville. They have almost completed their environmental studies. They are still a good bit away from reality though. They project to begin construction by 2016, but they will need new funds to consummate that plan. One of the options is to have a public and private sector funding of the project. A number of alternatives have come into play. The original plan was to build a freeway between Hwy 15 in Victorville to Hwy 14 in Antelope Valley. Now they are conceiving to add a high speed rail and a toll road or both. Or do nothing at all. The main reason the Hwy Corridor was planned was based on future population growth, and commerce between the two major cities in the High Desert. Currently the access is via Hwy 138 which runs East of Palmdale along the southern parts of the valley to Phelan, Pinon Hills and then to Victorville. We cannot locate full detailed public maps of the exact route the Hwy Corridor would precede. It is roughly projected to run East to West from Hwy 15 through Adelanto south of El Mirage by Krey Field Airport to Palmdale Blvd. (Q8) in Eastern Antelope Valley and proceed south of Lake Los Angeles via Palmdale Blvd and then up to Ave P-8 and connect to Hwy 14. Most (over 95%) of this route is vacant unused land. 10th East to 90th East in Palmdale is undeveloped land and P-8 in not a paved road. Palmdale Blvd is paved from Hwy 14 Eastward to 240th street East, but is certainly not wide enough for a hwy. There are proposed alternative bypass routes along the path. There looks to be speculative investment opportunities along the route and if the project is approved then profits can be made. We will keep you posted here with the progress as an eight lane hwy along Antelope Valley’s east side will make significant changes in those areas.

No comments: