By Brandon HENSLEY

While it has been known for some time the residents of the foothills are unhappy with the I-210 freeway construction, the Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting on Feb. 16 gave those with strong opinions a chance to voice their displeasure with members of Caltrans in the room.

None of those opinions were as vociferous, nor were any more welcomed, by some in the audience than those from Chris Kilpatrick.

As one of the five people who filled out a guest speaker card, Kilpatrick stood in front of the podium, turned to the Caltrans workers and spoke out at how the construction has been handled, calling it an “unmitigated disaster.”

“This is too important to ignore, or mince words,” he said.

Kilpatrick posted a video to the La Crescenta Facebook page on Feb. 11. The video showed him driving on the 210 eastbound from Lowell Avenue to Ocean View Boulevard, and his narration details some of the problems residents have had with the project since last fall, including forced merging that he said is not properly spaced, poor signage and exit-lane signage that is blocked by construction.

“These things violate every tenet of common sense,” he said.

Kilpatrick recommended the Town Council set up a committee spearheaded by residents to take concerns of the community and relay them to Caltrans.

The pavement and rehabilitation project, which spans from Dunsmore Avenue to North Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena, began in 2015 and is expected to be done in the summer of 2018. Caltrans representatives said there have been delays by Flatiron West, Inc., which has contributed to work being performed on both sides of the freeway at the same time.

“All construction has impacts. We anticipated those impacts,” said Rezah Faeh, project manager. “We had provided detours and all that. Just in this case during the [three weeks] Pennsylvania was closed, we shouldn’t have allowed the west-bound work to start. It was our oversight; we take responsibility for it.”

Also at the meeting were California State Senator Anthony Portantino and Assemblymember Laura Friedman.

Portantino said he contacted Caltrans in late January to express concerns over the project, including merge lane warnings and other inadequate signage. Like Kilpatrick, Portantino suggested council collect concerns on a weekly basis from the community and report back to his office, or to Friedman’s office, so they can be conduits to Caltrans.

“I have to say, since I’ve made the phone calls and Laura’s made the phone calls, Caltrans is trying. It’s not perfect, but the dialogue has been [better],” Portantino told the crowd at the council meeting. “I gotta tell you, social media has been an awesome tool. Robbyn (former council president Robbyn Battles), you’ve been stirring the pot on there, and I think it’s helping.”

Freidman addressed the high volume of traffic construction has caused. She said that when people get frustrated, they get off the freeway.

“And what do they do? They speed around the neighborhood. And a lot of these people don’t know the neighborhood. They may not know there’s no stop sign; they may not know there’s no sidewalk on a residential street,” she said.

Caltrans is expected to close the eastbound 210 on-ramp at La Crescenta Avenue today, and will keep it closed through this spring. The eastbound Pennsylvania Avenue on-ramps and off-ramps are expected to reopen today as well.

Kilpatrick has filed a request to Dept. of Transportation to obtain a copy of records related to the project including: traffic safety plans, codes or safety measures as it pertains to construction and copies of complaints received by the department.

“We have another year to go. Someone is going to be killed. Someone is going to be killed, it could be someone in this room,” Kilpatrick said. “Probably, if someone is killed, it’s going to be someone that someone in this room knows. We don’t need to let that happen, so I think this is a golden opportunity to take some steps to get things on the right track.”

“We have responded,” Fateh said. “Every time we get a comment, every time we get an email, every time we get an inquiry, we look into it, and we address it.”

Caltrans’ public information officer Karina Vargas can be reached at (818) 897-7602 or karina.vargas@dot.ca.gov. Real time traffic information can be accessed at quickmap.dot.ca.gov.

Also on the agenda, a bingo night fundraiser will be held Saturday, March 11 at 6 p.m. at American Legion Hall, 4011 La Crescenta Ave. The event will benefit the Crescenta Valley High School AFJROTC Drill and Ceremony team. Tickets are $10 for 10 games (20 chances to win), and include a $100 prize for each game. Food and drink are included. Contact Lt. Col. Dave Worley at CVHS (818) 249-5871, or Lynn Bender at (818) 726-1994 for more information.

The next CV Town Council meeting is scheduled for March 16 at 7 p.m. inside the community room at the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd.

  Brandon Hensley