City to get control of San Fernando Road.

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City to get control of San Fernando Road

By Stacey Klein
Signal Staff Writer

Wednesday, October 17, 2001

ov. Gray Davis has signed a bill giving ownership of part of state Route 126 to the city of Santa Clarita — although monetary issues must be resolved before the city takes possession.
    AB 635 by Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, relinquishes the portion of state Route 126 that runs through the city between Interstate 5 and state Route 14 — i.e., Magic Mountain Parkway and San Fernando Road.
    Under the new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, the sections will cease to be a state highway, and "the city of Santa Clarita shall maintain within its jurisdiction signs directing motorists to the continuation of Route 126."
    "The purpose is to help local government gain control of that part of the highway," Runner said Tuesday. "(Before relinquishment), it only created bureaucracy and red tape for the city."
    The bill will transfer ownership, maintenance, planning and reconfiguration rights from the state to the city.
    Mayor Laurene Weste said city control over Route 126 along San Fernando Road is an integral factor in the redevelopment of downtown Newhall.
    "It's a pivotal issue that the redevelopment committee and the city have had," Weste said. "One of the major focal points (of redevelopment) is the redesign of the street."
    Mike Haviland, the city's economic development coordinator, said in an earlier interview that the city had hired a firm to begin preparing streetscape plans, which could include striping, different parking patterns and measures to slow down traffic.
    Weste said the plan will make downtown Newhall "very pedestrian-friendly," and said it will be "charming and quaint" with an old-time American feel. "It will contribute to the uniqueness and character of the historic town."
    The city could not change the roadway as long as it was a state-owned highway.
    Stacey Miller, intergovernmental relations officer for the city, said the hand-over of the road is contingent on a financing agreement between the city and the state. The city is seeking state funding to maintain the road, and the two agencies have not yet settled on the amount.
    "Basically, the city has one number and the state has another," she said. "We're still trying to reach a middle ground."