Caltrans is embarking on a major widening project along the San Diego Freeway in West Los Angeles that will create uninterrupted carpool lanes from the Santa Monica Freeway south to Irvine -- and has left nearby residents with divided views over the undertaking.
The $167-million project will add one carpool lane in each direction along a four-mile portion of the 405 between the Marina and Santa Monica freeways, a stretch considered one of the busiest in California.
The effort, which began Nov. 3 and is expected to be completed by the winter of 2007, has generated complaints from some residents whose neighborhoods adjacent to the freeway are being transformed.
Caltrans has acquired 41 properties, mostly homes, and part of 34 others. Some residents complain that the demolition of half the homes on their street has ruined the close-knit neighborhood.
The project, financed with federal and state funds, is the latest step in Caltrans' effort to create a continuous network of carpool lanes on most freeways in Southern California, which already has the largest system of carpool lanes in the nation.
Major portions of the San Diego Freeway, which runs from the San Fernando Valley to Irvine, already have carpool lanes. Caltrans also is building the lanes between the Century and Marina freeways, with completion expected in 2006.
Soon, transportation officials will start to consider widening the northbound section of the 405 between the Santa Monica and Ventura freeways, one of the last major sections without them, said Ron Kosinski, Caltrans deputy district director of environmental planning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The proposed expansion would run through some of the city's most affluent communities, such as Bel-Air and Brentwood. Kosinski said he would meet with residents there and try to minimize the acquisition of property for the freeway widening.
He said it is virtually impossible now to widen freeways without taking over private property.
"All the easy areas [to widen freeways into] are pretty much gone," Kosinski said. "It's not going to be as easy, that's for sure."
Residents living near the new San Diego Freeway widening project that runs through portions of Culver City and West Los Angeles initially resisted the idea of having their homes acquired through eminent domain. But some now say it was a financial boon.
