Santa Clarita has just finished revising the Circulation Element of the General Plan, including alternatives to the planned SR126 between I-5 and SR14. Many thanks to Councilman Carl Boyer for his motion to delete the extension of the Old Road through the Valley Oaks Savannah west of I5 and to the rest of the Council for agreeing. This road would have resulted in the destruction of hundreds of Old Valley Oaks and grading of the picturesque hills in the Savannah. Highway 126 was also reduced back to 6 lanes and will not become a freeway that divides our City in half. The Council retained easements for eight lanes in many areas, so residents will have to be vigilant if they wish to avoid the wider roadways.
SCOPE did not take a formal position on the Circulation Element, but favored road networks which minimize impacts to the Santa Clara River Significant Ecological Area. We also encouraged the development of non-auto related modes of transportation such as public transit, bikeways and pedestrian friendly landuse. We remain unsure about the city's planned funding mechanism, which is to build the roads from developer fees. In our opinion, neither the city nor the county can "build their way out" of this problem by approving more growth. The added traffic from new growth will likely negate any gains from fees.
Upload and copyright© Dec 1997 by SCOPE