City May Get MTA Funds for 2 Projects

The city of Calabasas may receive much-needed funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for two projects designed to ease the flow of traffic on two highly congested stretches of road in the area.

The city was given MTA staff approval for the projects--a bicycle route along the Ventura Freeway and the widening of Calabasas Road--and now awaits the same from the MTA board, which is expected to review the proposals in June.

The projects were submitted for funding to the MTA’s Transportation Improvement Program Call for Projects competition this year. The money for the projects comes from transit sales taxes.

The city has already received $306,000 from the MTA to design the bike route. Although the bike lane will cross several communities and cities, from Woodland Hills to the Ventura County line, Calabasas will manage the project throughout. If the grant is approved by the MTA board, the city could get $559,000 for construction.

The project is important to alleviate congestion on one of the busiest stretches of freeway in the county, said Patricia Chen, an MTA project manager.

Chen said the MTA received hundreds of applications for funding. Criteria used in selecting projects include cost effectiveness, regional significance, land use, benefit to transit users and project readiness.

“This project scored quite well in all of those categories,” Chen said.

The city hopes to get an additional $500,000 to widen Calabasas Road as part of its efforts to revitalize Old Town Calabasas, said Robert Yalda, Calabasas’ traffic and transportation manager.

The road project, which is expected to cost $2 million, would add an extra lane to the road between Park Granada Boulevard and the Valley Circle Boulevard offramp to the Ventura Freeway.