Agoura Hills wins grant for Kanan interchange

$4 million will allow work to proceed



President Bush signed a federal highway bill last week that ends a two-year funding delay for the Kanan Road/101 Freeway interchange project. The Transportation Equity Act will provide $4 million of federal money towards the $25 million project, Agoura Hills officials said.

Although Agoura Hills had hoped to received $5 million, city officials said they were pleased.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Greg Ramirez, Agoura Hills city manager. “The community should be ecstatic. The cost is really split between city, region, MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and the federal government. It makes a lot of sense that everyone is pitches in here.”

The MTA will contribute another $10.5 million to the regional project and the city of Agoura Hills will foot the bill for the remaining $10.5 million.

The federal highway funding was cut 20 percent across the board, said Dan Kuperberg, a city council member who traveled twice to Washington to lobby for the funding.

“Wheels turn slowly in Washington,” said Kuperberg. “We’re thrilled after so many years of hard work that we will receive the federal money.”

Spokesperson David Sadkin said U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) secured a total of $16 million for the 30th Congressional District, including $2.4 million for tunnel repair on Kanan Dume and Malibu Canyon roads and $1.2 million for the creation of a habitat corridor between the Pacific Coast Highway and the 101 freeway.

“(The interchange project) was Congressman (Henry) Waxman’s top priority in the transportation reauthorization bill,” Sadkin said

“Congressman Waxman fully understands how significant the Kanan interchange is to the region,” Kuperberg said, adding that the city staff and council members “kept pursuing, pursuing and pursuing” until the funding finally arrived.

“We could have started building (the interchange) one year ago and not wait for the federal money,” added Kuperberg. “But, if we had started we would have lost out on $4 million. We stayed the course and we were rewarded.”

As for making up the $1 million difference in funding, Ramirez doesn’t foresee any problem.

“We will be able to come up with the other million. The council set aside $3.2 million in the transportation fund over the last couple of years,” Ramirez said.

Next steps

Preliminary work on the improvement project already is underway. Some utility lines are being located underground while others are being moved.

Ramirez said that the total cost to the city depends upon the contract for the new interchange loop ramps. Right-of-way costs could also affect the final budget, he said. Ramirez estimates that the cost will range from $10 to $12 million.

The city is negotiating the purchase of several properties to allow the expanded interchange to be built, including the International House of Pancakes and the Chevron gas station located off Kanan Road on the south side of the freeway. The properties are owned by Kanan Properties. The city also needs property owned by Mc-Donalds on Canwood Street and the Shell Station on Kanan Road. The properties are needed to relocate traffic signals, construct ramps that will eliminate all left turns onto the freeway, and increase the number of lanes at the exit ramps to improve the flow of traffic, officials said.

Under the law of eminent domain, the city has the right to purchase the properties if they are needed for the public benefit.

“We’re working on securing these properties,” Ramirez said.

If the city and the property owners cannot negotiate the sale, the decision on fair market value could wind up in court. “We are moving ahead,” Ramirez said. “(The property owners who don’t want to sell) won’t hold up the project.”


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