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[SCVHISTORY.COM] [OLD TOWN NEWHALL TODAY] [NEWHALL HISTORY]
Group asks city to spend money in Newhall
By Brian Franks
Signal Business Editor
January 17, 2003
espite a request from Newhall merchants, the city of Santa Clarita will not likely use any of the state funds it received to maintain and restore a recently acquired portion of Highway 126 to enhance downtown Newhall's main street.
City Transportation Director Robert Newman said the state gave the city $5.5 million to repair a recently acquired portion of Highway 126 — Magic Mountain Parkway and San Fernando Road — from Interstate 5 to state Route 14.
Newman said the money will be used for repairs to the roadway, such as signal upgrades, resurfacing and concrete repair to curbs and sidewalks.
"In October, (the California Department of Transportation) relinquished to the city a portion of Highway 126," Newman said. "As part of the relinquishment, CalTrans gave the city $5.5 million to bring the road up to what they (state officials) term a state of good repair — not for new improvements, but to repair existing damage."
In a letter to the city, the Old Town Newhall Association has requested that the $5.5 million be used for a San Fernando Road streetscape improvement project in downtown Newhall.
In a letter, the group admonished the city to "act as custodian of the public trust to see that all the $5.54 million state allocation of funds are set aside for the completion of the San Fernando Road streetscape improvements within the special standards district of downtown Newhall ... and administer the necessary stimulus to the city staff for the swift commencement and completion of the San Fernando Road streetscape improvements."
Association Chairman Larry Bird said the money is available and should be used in downtown Newhall.
"It is our turn," said Bird, a Newhall resident. "We are the only part of the valley that hasn't had any improvements. All the other areas of the valley have (gotten) new landscaping and improvements. Downtown Newhall has been ignored."
Newman, who had not seen the letter, said he understands the request, but said the money wasn't given to the city for enhancements.
"The city would have to consider the request, but that is not why the city was given the money," he said.
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