3 Years, 10 Miles and 18,000 Jobs
According to transportation officials, more than 300,000 drivers use the Sepulveda Pass (405 between the 10 and 101 freeways) each day. The new carpool lane should make a smooth route for northbound multi-passenger vehicles, buses, and hybrids, and should also absorb about 15-25 percent of overall traffic, according to officials, who point to ancillary benefits for the single-passenger vehicles that make up the bulk of today’s traffic. However, drivers can also expect three years of major headaches due to lane closures, bottlenecks and detours at several major interchanges.
In addition to the new 10 miles of HOV lane, plans include replacing bridges at the Skirball Center, Sunset Blvd. and Mulholland Dr.; 27 realigned on/off ramps; construction of 18 miles of retaining and sound walls; relining most northbound lanes to a standard 12-foot width, as well as surrounding road improvements.
At press time, the general contractor was about half-way through the initial phase consisting of re-striping of the freeway in segments from the 10 interchange. The next phase, set to begin next month, will put down rail to isolate a work zone for construction crews to begin the actual widening, according to MTA spokesman Dave Setaro.
MTA estimates that around 18,000 (direct and indirect) jobs will result from the three-year buildout. Among the crafts, cement masons, laborers and operating engineers are expected to have a large share of the work.
“The project is not even in its beginning stages,” said Luis Robles, Secretary Treasurer for Laborers Local 300. “It’s a design build project and right now they’re doing all the prep work, building up as they get closer to the start date, which all indications show will probably be in March.”
Robles said he expects to have between 100 to 150 laborers on the project “off and on” throughout the construction period, adding that “traffic control has about 20 guys there now.”
Thony Sarmiento, Business Representative with Cement Masons Local 600, said there are three masons currently on the project. “The second week of Mach. they should be hiring up to 10, maybe 15 more. And when they do concrete they’ll have more – at least up to 35 throughout the buildout.”
General Contractor Kiewit is contracting directly with some of the trades like Cement Masons, and subcontracting out several maintenance projects.
“Kiewit is a union shop off the board so they definitely are trying to work with the trades,” said MTA’s Michael Barber. “The other thing is they’re contracting out a lot of maintenance – there’s quite a wide range of activities.”
The subcontracting list includes debris removal, pothole repair, fencing, graffiti removal, painting, landscaping, and signage, among others.
Set to be completed in 2013, the project will likely be the last major widening effort for sometime, officials have said.
The project will be a small step towards addressing the state and nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Last year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released a report card giving the country’s infrastructure a failing grade.
“Decades of underfunding and inattention have jeopardized the ability of our nation’s infrastructure to support our economy and facilitate our way of life,” the report concluded.
The nation’s roads received one of the report’s worst grades. “Congestion has become the most critical challenge facing our highway system. Congestion continues to worsen to the point at which Americans spend 4.2 billion hours a year stuck in traffic at a cost of $78.2 billion a year in wasted time and fuel costs – $710 per motorist, said the ASCE.
