One bridge set to open, one to close

BURBANK — Caltrans is slated to open the Hollywood Way-Alameda Avenue bridge Sept. 8 as crews move ahead with construction of the new Hollywood Way onramp to the westbound Ventura (134) Freeway.

As part of the next phase of construction, the Pass Avenue bridge will be closed beginning Sept. 9.

Work on the three-year project is expected to end next summer, with a series of detours planned to assist pedestrians and drivers, said Patrick Chandler, spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.

Contractors this week issued details about the next phase of the project to neighborhood tenants and property owners. The construction is not expected to cut off access to any businesses.

“We want to make sure people in Burbank, and also Toluca Lake and North Hollywood, have the information they need,” Chandler said.

While residents and those working in the city have for years lived with the construction, Caltrans is issuing a detailed detour map on how motorists and pedestrians can expect to alter their commutes.

Those traveling south on Pass Avenue north of the 134 Freeway will be redirected east on Verdugo Avenue, south to Hollywood Way and west to Alameda Avenue. Those headed north on Pass Avenue south of the 134 will be directed east on Alameda Avenue, north on Hollywood Way and west on Verdugo Avenue.

Pedestrians, too, will be required to use alternate routes. “There’s some movements along the way that may cause some issues,” said Ken Johnson, the city’s traffic engineer. “We happen to known that when some new closure happens there’s probably two weeks of confusion. Then they get into a habit after a week or two.”

The city realigned the Hollywood Way offramp from the westbound 134 Freeway to provide space for the new onramp. The existing onramp at Alameda Avenue will remain. The $47-million project also includes the construction of retaining and sound walls along the Hollywood Way ramps. The over-crossings for Alameda and Pass avenues and Hollywood Way will also be lengthened to accommodate the new onramp.

“That’s certainly one of our biggest intersections,” interim Community Development Director Greg Herrmann said. “The addition of the other ramp will replace a left turn with a right. It’s going to help.”

Existing traffic on Media District roads has grown to the point that the old configuration can no longer accommodate the demand, Herrmann said.

New development in the area has also opened the doors for additional industry tenants to move in, but the flailing economy has taken its toll. Growing office vacancy rates across the city are the result of two multistory developments — including the Point — which this month inflated the available square footage by more than 800,000, to some 1 million total.

The openings have moved the city from having one of the lowest proportions of empty office space in Los Angeles County to one of the highest.