OHLA-USA crews began working on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) and the California Department of Transportation's (Caltrans) $679 million I-5 North County Enhancement project on Dec. 1, 2021, and are on track for 2026 completion.
The project's goal is to improve the operations and safety of Interstate 5 for Santa Clarita Valley motorists, in part by removing trucks from the general-purpose lanes and by adding space for merging.
Caltrans photo
LA Metro planned, designed and is managing the construction in partnership with Caltrans of a project that covers a 14-mi. corridor between State Route 14 in Santa Clarita and Parker Road in Castaic.
The initiative is adding one high occupancy vehicle (HOV)/carpool lane in each direction along I-5; extending the northbound truck lane from SR-14 to Calgrove Boulevard; adding a southbound truck lane from Calgrove Boulevard to SR-14; installing sound walls at four locations; replacing the Weldon Canyon Bridge; installing Intelligent Transportation System improvements between the Interstate 405 and Interstate 210 interchanges; and constructing additional outside lanes.
"The new pavement is JPCP (jointed planed concrete pavement) with significant hot-mix asphalt placed on shoulders and ramps," said Patrick Chandler, LA Metro's media relations manager. "The sound walls are placed with masonry blocks over concrete barriers."
The sound walls on I-5 southbound are north of Hasley Canyon Road between Magic Mountain Parkway and Valencia Boulevard and on I-5 northbound south of McBean Parkway and north of Calgrove Boulevard. Construction began in 2022.
The demolition of the Weldon Canyon Road bridge was completed in 2023.
Caltrans photo
The project is funded through a combination of Measure R and Measure M funding set aside for road and highway projects, along with SB 1 and federal dollars. SB 1 uses state gas taxes and vehicle fees to fund roadways, improve transit and build walking and biking projects.
"This is another example of how SB 1 continues to deliver for the people of California, contributing $247 million — 36 percent of the total project funding — to enhance freight movement between Southern California and the Central Valley Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin said in a news release.
This is a two-stage project.
Stage 1, which began in 2021, should be completed in December, according to an OHLA-USA spokesperson. The includes site staging, median construction, HOV lanes, walls and bridges.
Stage 2 started in April 2024 and will finish in September 2026. It focuses on auxiliary lanes and ramps.
This year is a busy one for OHLA-USA and its subcontractors.
Bridge work is occurring at the Weldon Canyon Road overhead crossing, Castaic Creek, Gavin Canyon undercrossing, Rye Canyon Road, Santa Clara overhead crossing and the Magic Mountain Parkway bridges, according to OHLA-USA.
Walls-wise, crews are tackling the outside shoulder retaining walls — northbound and southbound I-5 between SR-14 and Parker Road, sound walls along southbound I-5 at Hasley Canyon Road and between Magic Mountain Parkway and Calgrove Boulevard both northbound and southbound.
For shoulders and ramps, efforts are ongoing for drainage, barrier, signage and pavement work project-wide; outside lane reconstruction; and temporary pavement and new construction of the northbound truck route on-ramp. Center median activities are focusing on barriers, signage and lighting throughout the project, an OHLA-USA spokesman said.
The construction of the Gavin Canyon undercrossing bridge had crews installing falsework throughout the spring. In March, a large crawler crane lifted heavy elements of the system at night. The crane operator and personnel assisting in the placement of the pieces coordinated their actions. The bridge should be delivered in December.
Caltrans photo
In February, crews demolished the columns of the Magic Mountain Parkway Bridge between The Old Road and Tourney Road. Bridge construction continues, including reductions of eastbound and westbound shoulder widths.
As for the two-span concrete Castaic Creek Bridge, falsework was installed and concrete pours for the deck were made throughout the spring. The superstructure is anticipated to be complete this summer, according to OHLA-USA.
The construction of the Rye Canyon Road Bridge is proceeding, too, with the metal decking placed in January. The left-side bridge extension was completed in the spring and the right-side bridge demolition will soon occur. The work to install the bridge deck will take the rest of the year.
The construction of the Calgrove Boulevard undercrossing and southbound on-ramp was completed in June, with the approach slabs at the undercrossing installed in April.
Work also included the southbound on-ramp roadway excavation and construction, concrete and asphalt paving, electrical work and metal beam guardrail installation.
Major form work for the Santa Clara overhead crossing began in January.
Abutment, forming, superstructure work, rebar installation and concrete work is ongoing throughout the summer.
The building of the Castaic sound wall on southbound I-5 between Villa Canyon Road and Hasley Canyon Road began in the spring and will continue throughout the year. Crews are installing masonry blocks in an excavated lane that separates them from traffic. The construction is proceeding in a north-south trajectory.
Construction of the sound wall between Magic Mountain Parkway and Valencia Boulevard started in April, with delivery at the end of the year. Crews are installing transparent panels.
Construction of the Calgrove Boulevard. sound wall will begin this summer. Starting activities include scaffolding and block installations. It should be finished by winter.
Caltrans photo
Other activities include ramp and outside shoulder improvements, including the northbound truck route, concrete paving, striping and drainage and electrical work. Overhead signs are being installed between Calgrove Boulevard and SR-14 throughout the summer.
Dust mitigation and stormwater management are based on fugitive dust and stormwater management administered by environmental engineers. Mitigations include water trucks for dust, slope erosion control, track-out control, reduced vehicle speeds, covering inactive stockpiles and storm drain protections.
OHLA-USA has a plethora of subcontractors and material suppliers on the project. Those include Sequoia Consultants, Global Transloading LLC, Hunsaker & Associates, Cooper Engineering Inc., IMRAE Corp., Rock Structures Construction Co., Cal-Stripe Inc., Tipco Engineering Inc., Endemic Environmental Services Inc., Condon-Johnson Associates Inc., CGO Construction and Ferreira Construction Co.
Other included Don H. Mahaffy Drilling Co., High Light Electric Inc., Global Road Sealing Inc., Integrity Rebar Placers, LA Steel Services, Reycon Construction Inc., Cell-Crete Corp., Diverscape Inc., Calmex Engineering Inc., Apex Universal Inc., Lowers Welding and Fabrication Inc., Lowers Industrial Supply, Angelus Block Co. Inc. and National Ready Mix Inc.
OHLA-USA used a massive amount of equipment on the project, including a Terex Bid-Well paver and Terex T 340 hydraulic truck cranes; GOMACO GP2600-pavers, Commander III pavers; TC600 cure machines and a RTP5-00 placer; various Cat pieces: a 950 wheel loader, a D6T dozer, a 140M3 motor grader, a 314F wheeled excavator and 335F LC excavators; and Genie GS-4069 and GS-3369 RT scissor lifts and S-85XC and S-40 boom lifts.
Also used were John Deere 210EP and 135G excavators; Komatsu PC360 and PC35MR excavators and D39PX dozers; Grove GRT880 cranes; Volvo ECR88D and ECR145L excavators, SD115B rollers and SD45B smooth drum compactors; and Bobcat T740 compact track loaders and MT100 mini track loaders.
Skytrack, JLG, Kubota, Hyundai, Xtreme, Chem-grout, Magni, Dynapac, Hamm and Bomag were well represented on the many construction sites. CEG
