Westlake Blvd. work falls short of destination




JAM SESSION—A resident snapped this photo while sitting in traffic recently on Westlake Boulevard. The gridlock has tested the patience of local drivers. Below, a map of the work. A Caltrans-hired contractor has repaved Westlake Boulevard (State Route 23) from the 101 Freeway to East Potrero Road. But a final phase of the project, overlaying SR 23 between Potrero and Carlisle Road, has been cancelled. Courtesy photo

JAM SESSION—A resident snapped this photo while sitting in traffic recently on Westlake Boulevard. The gridlock has tested the patience of local drivers. Below, a map of the work. A Caltrans-hired contractor has repaved Westlake Boulevard (State Route 23) from the 101 Freeway to East Potrero Road. But a final phase of the project, overlaying SR 23 between Potrero and Carlisle Road, has been cancelled. Courtesy photo

Work to repave a state-controlled section of Westlake Boulevard south of the 101 Freeway toward the beach will not go as far as originally promised, Caltrans announced this week.

The project, two-thirds of the way complete, is quickly approaching its $5.5-million budget, said Jim Medina, Caltrans spokesperson, causing the state transportation agency to cancel construction on State Route 23 between E. Potrero and Carlisle roads, a 1.9-mile stretch with only one lane in each direction.

The work on the remaining portion of Westlake Boulevard will not be as drastic or costly as the completed work because that stretch of road only requires an overlay and no existing asphalt will need to be removed, Medina said.

It’s uncertain when Caltrans will finish the job because it still needs to find funding for the final expanse of pavement.

“That remains to be determined,” Medina said.

C.A. Rasmussen Inc., Caltrans’ contractor, is currently putting the finishing touches on the intersection of Westlake and Potrero, having repaved from the freeway past Agoura and Triunfo Canyon roads over the last two months. It will go no farther.

 

Medina attributed the higher-than-expected costs to the decision to shift work from nighttime to the daytime, a change that was made two weeks into the project at the request of the City of Thousand Oaks, which hoped to prevent the noisy work from disrupting the sleep of nearby homeowners.

Medina said daytime construction costs are higher because crews have to bring the cement from Sun Valley through heavier traffic. And because daytime crews have to avoid working during rush hours, it shortens the windows crews have to work on the project, forcing them to add extra shifts to the project.

Caltrans officials did inform the city at the time of their request that the switch from nighttime to daytime work could potentially shorten the scope of the project.

Thousand Oaks Public Works Director Jay Spurgin told The Acorn last week that the city was forced to decide between the lesser of two evils: inconveniencing drivers or causing sleepless nights for residents.

“It is a weighing and balancing of impacts,” he said at the time. “We’re hoping that they (drivers) will understand and have sympathy for those 4,000 to 5,000 residents that would have been disturbed all night long.”

Spurgin said this week that T.O. would support Caltrans as it applied for funding to complete the paving project along the final stretch of road.

“They committed to looking for alternative funding to be able to come back soon and get that section paved,” he said. “That was helpful to hear.”