District 7 Profile – Fact Sheet

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist07

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), formerly known as the Division of Highways, was established by the State Legislature in 1972.  The Department is primarily responsible for planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of the state highway system.  Other responsibilities include mass transit system enhancement, railroad system development, air transportation planning, and assisting area governments and agencies in planning and developing local transportation improvements.

District 7, which includes Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, has the second largest workforce of 12 Caltrans districts. The district employs approximately 2,511 people, with the largest group – 1,369 - working in the construction and maintenance areas. The remaining employees in District 7 are distributed between Administrative, Environmental, Planning, Design, Program and Project Management, Operations and Right of Way positions. The annual district personnel and operating expense budget is approximately $304 million. During the next four years, it is projected that the District will manage a budget of approximately $3.28 billion for transportation projects.

The Department’s mission of improving mobility across California is evidenced in all District 7 activities. Several regional projects are currently underway which will assist in decreasing congestion and increasing mobility. Constructing an interconnecting High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) or carpool lane system continues to be a departmental priority. The purpose of the HOV program is to reduce congestion, by using the capacity of the freeway system more efficiently, and to increase mobility in the region. The central concept of the HOV program is to move more people rather than more cars. District 7 had 440 HOV lane miles in Los Angeles County by the end of 2004, the largest amount in the state. In the next five years, 70 more HOV lane miles are planned. The $34.7 million I-405 HOV lane project in the Inglewood area started construction in spring, 2003 and will add 5 miles of HOV lanes in both the northbound and southbound directions along I-405 between Route 105 and Route 90. Soundwalls will be built at various locations. The timeframe for completion is winter 2006. An HOV lane project on I-405 between SR-90 and I-10 began construction in winter 2005 and will complete construction in fall 2007. Other HOV projects on I-405 are: Northbound I-405, between Ventura Boulevard and Burbank Boulevard; this $ 6.2 million project began construction in summer 2005 and is expected to complete mid-2007. Extension of the southbound I-405 HOV lane and addition of auxiliary lanes from Waterford Street to I-10 began in summer 2005. When completed, this $ 60 million project will provide a continuous HOV lane on southbound I-405 in Los Angeles County. Once complete, these projects will assist in congestion relief to one of the busiest freeways in California.

Caltrans, in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol (CHP), has implemented the Transportation Management Center concept to rapidly detect and respond to incidents while managing the resulting congestion. With the help of the latest in electronic technologies such as closed circuit television, information is fed into the center through pavement sensors, and other high-tech monitoring equipment. The Traffic Management Center (TMC) is a state-of-the-art support facility for traffic administration staffed 24 hours each day. Through the use of high-tech equipment, some of which was developed by Caltrans, motorists using the largest freeway system in the world benefit with a faster, more efficient transportation management network.  It has been developed to implement the latest in interactive/integrated transportation management and information systems using real-time computer assisted communication technologies. The Traffic Management Center is located in the Caltrans District Office Building in downtown Los Angeles. Since its inception in 1971, the TMC continues to serve as a worldwide resource for other states and countries interested in traffic management functions. A new facility, under construction in Glendale, will be freestanding and is slated to open in 2006.

The Golden State Freeway (I-5) corridor is a major regional transportation corridor for international, national, interregional and intra-regional travel and goods movement that extends the entire length of the western United States from Mexico to Canada. In Santa Clarita, I-5 is traveled by millions yearly, including visitors to the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. Caltrans is continuing improvements to I-5 in Santa Clarita with the completion of two new bridge replacement projects, the third and fourth of seven scheduled projects. Two 36-month projects have replaced the Magic Mountain Parkway (Phase 1) and Santa Clara River bridges. The projects were built in three stages in order to minimize impacts to the traveling public, expedite completion of both projects and reduce traffic management costs. Both projects helped pave the way for an upcoming Phase 2 project at Magic Mountain Parkway which will widen Magic Mountain Parkway and make additional ramp and interchange improvements, and is expected to begin in fall, 2006.  The I-5/126 interchange improvement is the fifth project to the I-5 corridor in the Santa Clarita Valley since 2000 – and completed in December, 2005.  The project included widening of SR-126 by adding two lanes in each direction, construction of new on-ramps, realignment of SR-126 to accommodate the widening of SR-126 and replacement of the existing bridge structure directly over I-5. Also expected to begin construction in the fall of 2006 is the Hasley Canyon Road interchange improvement near Castaic, which will help to improve mobility and relieve congestion.

The Ventura Freeway (U.S-101), a major inter-regional route connecting downtown Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, Ventura County, and Santa Barbara County, is currently undergoing reconstruction.

Caltrans, in partnership with the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC), the City of Oxnard and the City of Ventura, is constructing a two-mile improvement project along the Ventura Freeway (US-101). The project extends from Vineyard Avenue in the City of Oxnard to Johnson Drive in the City of Ventura and includes the Oxnard Boulevard interchange. Funding for this $100 million project is provided by the State Transportation Improvement Program and the City of Oxnard. Project completion is expected to be winter, 2007.

These are but a few of the Department’s daily activities to improve mobility throughout the area. We continue to develop faster, economical, and efficient methods to provide California with the safest, best managed and seamless transportation system in the world.

 DISTRICT 7 – MILEAGE FACTS