LANCASTER —Officials from the City of Lancaster, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) on Wednesday commemorated the recent opening of the new Avenue I/State Route 14 interchange.
“With The BLVD transformation downtown, as well as the addition of new hotels and entertainment venues along the Front Row Center complex near Lancaster Municipal Stadium, the need for an improved freeway interchange at Avenue I became very apparent,” said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris in a city news release. “This new interchange paves the way for continued development in these areas.”
The 14-month construction project increased the capacity of the interchange, solved previous safety and visibility concerns, and provided easier access to popular destinations.
“To enhance mobility for commuters, reduce congestion and improve air quality for the residents of the Antelope Valley, Metro has committed over $5 million to the SR-14/Avenue I interchange,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Michael D. Antonovich.
A collaborative effort between the Los Angeles County Metro, the City of Lancaster, and Caltrans, the $12 million project involved the widening of Avenue I to three lanes in each direction, while providing dual left turn lanes onto State Route 14 from both the eastbound and westbound directions.
The project also replaced the problematic stop-sign controlled southbound off ramp with a new loop ramp which now intersects with Avenue I at 23rd Street West.
“The City of Lancaster is experiencing tremendous growth in population and in the movement of goods, so Caltrans and its partners have designed an interchange that accommodates this growth, enhances safety and improves mobility to improve access to State Route 14 at Avenue I and to the surrounding communities of the Antelope Valley,” said Michael Miles, District 7 Director for Caltrans.
(Information via press release from the City of Lancaster.)
William says
What happend to ol’ John Howard?????
He told me in no uncertain terms to stop posting here and then, voila, he disappeared.
Musta shot himself in the foot with that comment.
Michael Rives says
Anyone ride on 20th St W and J8 recently? Well, the geniuses who plan things are working on the street and putting in barriers. Okay, but how are the big trucks with steel going to navigate the narrow areas to drop off materials for the Marriot Hotel to be built? You think traffic is bad now with the barriers, wait until construction begins. Also, there is NOT a turn-off to the post office on 20th St West, but there is to the real estate office. Huh?
Whatever says
Always trust that Sandra Johnson will be there for any photo opportunity. I’m not sure how much she has contributed to this city beyond photographs, but at least she smiles for every picture possible.
William says
I’ve caught a few minutes of Johnson on TWC 28 giving lectures or something. She reminds me of this woman televangelist with an abrasive personality on one of those cable channels I usually avoid.
Is there anyone in Lancaster’s city government who isn’t…..how you say……..a little off in one way or another?
William says
You don’t suppose she’s using her city council gig to promote her UAV, do ya?
Nah, not in Lancaster.
Edith Bunker says
I think she wants to run for Mayor…Rex and the city council will probably pass an ordinance that allows him to name the next Mayor. Of course it will pass unanimously.
sikntired says
RIP Edith -those were the days.
William says
Nay, not in Lancaster.
GillEGulch says
Insiders get deals in Lancaster? say it aint so.
Green is a cover-up says
I wonder where Marvin”the RAT’ Crist is hiding, he would’nt be promoting Sandra for some reason would he?
sikntired says
I didn’t know they made beds that big.
nadia says
NIce offramp, but what about the rest of Lancaster? There is so much junk, trash, etc., out in the desert fields. Yet, no one bothers to clean. I mean mattresses, old t.v.’s, sofas, medicine filled bottles, you name it. When you drive North on 15th St. East off of Ave. I, there is a mobile home on the left and the mobile homes are old and falling apart yet across from that mobile home park is a nicely kept up and modern mobile home park. the councilperson, Sandra Johnson, also owns A.V. University (for profit university). R. Rex P is the mayor and advertises his law firm all over. I wonder why no one has questioned whether this is a conflict-of-interest.
GillEGulch says
Conflict of interest? lots of councils have people that own for profit businesses in former public schools. lots of councils have mayors that own buildings that they werent supposed to be able to by. lots of city’s have planning commissioner broker property’s that get flipped from residential to commercial with a quick vote. lots of city’s have ex city managers who bought property where developers built. conflict of interest? move along. ignore what you see.
sikntired says
Does the name “Bell “ring a bell?
GillEGulch says
Lancaster puts bell to shame.
GillEGulch says
slicker is an understatement. they own the d.a. so theres never an investigation. thats the reason for all those campaign donations.
sikntired says
who is john howard ?
William says
I think he’s a character in one of Ayn Rand’s books or a chain of motels. Oh, wait, that’s ‘Howard Johnsons’.
Adam Chant says
I think John Howard was an acrostic poet of the early 21st century.
Michael Rives says
I bet someone is going to propose a new off-ramp right next to the new Marriot Hotel at J8 and 20th St West in Lancaster. Heck, we can have off-ramps everywhere. How about off-ramps to get to off-ramps? lol
AVfubar says
Not sure what prompted the waste of taxpayer dollars to change the southbound Ave. I offramp. Why are they making such a big deal about the waste of money and the amount of time it took to accomplish?
Jason says
They changed it ahead of time for planned construction in that area. Would you they rather waste that money now when it wont effect traffic that much or down the line when the hotel and whatever else is going in along with all the traffic?
sikntired says
You’ve got to be kidding,a hotel in that area ?
Jason says
Yep. Heard talk of one going in behind the AM/PM along with whatever other plans they have over by the stadium.
GillEGulch says
The only traffic youll see on I is visitors heading for the prison. Jethawks games are empty and thats a shame. why did they build a stadium there?
sikntired says
Actually I believe I read that they are eyeballing Mira Loma for mentally ill prisoners whom they want to remove from general population.That might bring in a little more traffic to the area.
sikntired says
Hmm,maybe someone of import wanted to get rid of that property?
GillEGulch says
Like someone who wanted to unload the flood zone property that is now the fairgrounds?
QHR says
City Council, Thanks for trying to make our community better. Hope to see more similar infrastructure improvements in the near future.
QHCares says
City Council, Thanks for ruining our community by ramming a Wal-mart down our throats when we made it clear to you we did not want it. Hope not to see similar debacles in the near future.
William says
Funny. I’ve said many times that with the Walmart in Quartz Hill, Lancaster gets the sales tax dollars and Quartz Hill gets the problems.
Now, I heard Marvin Crist say something similar about the Palmdale power plant. Palmdale gets the benefits while Lancaster gets the exhaust.
Good! Now he should know what that’s like.
Jason says
The AQMD meeting on the power plant was quite interesting. From Rex showing up and deputies not showing up that far behind because of so many union workers there, to Rex basically saying the plant was proposed where it was on the east side because thats where minorities live to saying he isnt afraid to fight the unions because hes fought drug dealers and criminals. Basically it all reeked of were not going to see benefits of it so screw the project.
Lawyersinlove says
City Council, Thanks for trying to make our economy better by getting embroiled in lawsuits over the Moguls, Rubin City Council prayers, fighting David Abber, Miracle Star, Palmdale, Coalition for Open Government, Quartz Hill Cares, Waterhouse, Housing Authority of Los Angeles County, Save Our Neighborhood Group, and Antelope Valley Allied Arts Association. Hope to see more economic stimulus through all the lawsuits in the near future.
GillEGulch says
City Council, Thanks for trying to make our community better by spending ten million dollars of taxpayer money to cover the dry creek that goes through Frank Visco and Jim Gilley’s property. Hope to see more similar sweetheart good ole boy deals in the near future.
sikntired says
Up and coming, according to AVPress article, a recycling center, location yet to be decided.
And perhaps one of you erudite bloggers might be able to answer me this – great concern right now over Chinese hacking into our computers, so why in hell are they being courted to establish businesses here.
Your mayor was quite beside himself last week entertaining the Chinese something -or -other at AVC and exclaiming that this time they had an even bigger helicopter than last time.
This dumb girl just doesn’t get it.
GillEGulch says
Thank you, City Council, for trying to make our community better by paving the way for Communist Chinese companies to set up shop and bring employes from a Communist country that loves to steal our technology next to our country’s most sensitive national security projects. Hope to see more idiotic invitations to countries who want to steal our military secrets in the future. Not!
GillEGulch says
City Council, Thanks for trying to make the insider game better by appointing an employee of the mayor to be a deputy mayor. Hope to see more similar conflict of interest appointments in the near future.
sikntired says
Nepotism at it’s finest.Why are people in Lancaster not bothered by this stuff?
William says
One reason I’m guessing is that those Lancaster residents who commute long distances are simply not up on what’s happening when they get home late and get up early the next morning while the locusts are busy devouring what they can.
Hence, the low voter turnouts on those elections held at odd times. What do they have, just one polling booth for the whole city?
GillEGulch says
City Council, Thanks for trying to make voting more difficult that it needs to be by holding elections in April when no other elections are happening. Hope to see more strange election days with no accountability and stuff like keeping unlocked ballot boxes in your offices so that the legitimacy of elections can be called into question again in the near future.
GillEGulch says
City Council, Thanks for trying to make our community better by sticking your noses in neighboring Palmdales business through lawsuits for voting districts that even we dont have and safe and sane fireworks sales. Hope to see more similar uninvited intrusions into palmdales business in the near future which will help deflect all the problems facing you like high unemployment and rising crime and insider deals and lawsuits and panhandlers on lancaster boulevard and empty storefronts and air pollution caused by solar farms and excessive debt and lousy financial ratings.
GillEGulch says
City council, Thanks for trying to help Frank Viscos business prosper by spending millions of our taxpayer dollars on the eye on the sky even though it hasnt done doodle squat. Hope to see more squandering of taxpayer dollars on absorb projects that produce no results for your friends in the near future.
GillEGulch says
Who in there right mind wants to get off Ave I? If the In and Out wasn’t next to the CHP station I’d avoid it like the plague.
sikntired says
let’s see,there’s the animal shelter,the stadium and -oh yeah,the jail.
AVfubar says
The ‘prison’ is off Ave. J. There is no ‘jail’ on Ave. I. Mira Loma has been vacant since October, 2012.
Know It All says
Actually you can reach the State Prison from both Ave J and Ave I! The sign leading you directly to the California State Prison at Lancaster is actually located at the Ave I exit.
sikntired says
That’s right., know it all and there are plans to reopen Mira Lima.
sikntired says
All that hoopla for a new on ramp, unbelievable.Meanwhile the streets in Lancaster continue to be a hazard to your car.
SMH.
William says
Wow! You read my mind. An interchange???? Why not an interchange for the 14 and Lancaster Boulevard. I suspect that’s why the old Factory Outlet was such a wild success. You needed to take a tour of Lancaster to get there even though it’s right next to the freeway.
Oh, well.
sikntired says
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I could read your mind, Will.LOL.
William says
You mean my ‘mind’ is wilder than your wildest dreams?
Why thank you. That’s quite a compliment.
sikntired says
YW, now answer me this if you can-when did an on ramp become an interchange and how long before the taggers get the mural.
Don’t they look like bobble head dolls,what a non-event.
William says
Well, sikntired, in a city that is the ‘solar capital of the world’, a street or boulevard that is ‘world class’, an auto mall that people from all over California will come to buy cars, y’know, like from Eureka and San Diego and maybe from Seattle too, oh, and that street, you’ll recall, was declared by the mayor as the ‘safest place in the universe’ and so given all that, a new on-ramp is as significant a structure as the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China. I bet it, too, can be seen from space.
Exactly what is that mayor compensating for, I ask you?
John Howard says
William
I think no one
Likes what you have to say
Let’s make a suggestion.
I think you need
A break from
Miss representing the A.V.
I don’t believe you
Should continue to post on
AVTimes and
Not one of your comments
Are worth a damn.
Someone
Should
Hold your
Over blown ego under water
Level until it
Expires
William says
@John Howard. What is your problem? I was just repeating statments your mayor has made over the years.
If you don’t like it, take it up with him. He said them.
Maybe, he was the one ‘misrepresenting’. But, that’s too complicated for yer widdle brain.
sikntired says
Well, JH, how kind of you to speak for
the rest of us.
Will and I rarely agree on anything but I defend his right to express himself and it’s always helpful to have a blogger with a triple digit I.Q.
Freedom of expression, as American as apple pie.
AVfubar says
Hey John Howard. You are entitled to your ‘personal’ opinion of all posters views…but that’s it. You do not have the right to tell anyone to stop posting because you happen to disagree with a valid point. Despite the onslaught of bad politicians the past 30 years, there remain remnants of this once wonderful state, and so far, all citizens are still free to voice their opinions in the USA, albeit California has definitely tipped the scale toward becoming a completely Socialist, anti-business, pro-Welfare State.
mediasevil says
Seriously, the streets are falling apart day by day. But hey, take a drive out Ave K or J towards 90th east to 170th east, they are repaving all the roads and fixing all the potholes. Because we need pretty nice smooth streets OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT. OMG, we need to make sure Mayor/Lawyer McCheese gets out in the next election and someone with half a brain does something for this town.
sikntired says
LOL
super freakie says
Do you know anyone with half a brain?
Jason says
Part of that is county maintained roads so that would be the County doing that work, not the City.