The northbound off-ramp for Exit 33, Lost Hills Road, has been completely rebuilt, it just opened recently. Instead of a standard diamond interchange like before, it is now a long ramp that veers to the right, meeting Lost Hills Road quite a ways north of the freeway. Does anyone know why this particular off-ramp was rebuilt? My guess is it has something to do with the dump trucks having an easier time reaching the landfill (which is at the north end of Lost Hills Road).
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cityofcalabasas.com%2Fdepartments%2Ftraffic%2Fmap.jpg&hash=ceaf0c0898662d864cdcc55ddaf102eaffcf53c8)
On the project page, it says "It will involve widening the Lost Hills Road overpass to five lanes, providing improvements to the on/off ramp design onto US 101, and ensure safe access for all pedestrians."
So I think the short answer was "We [Calabasas] have the money, so why the hell not?"
But I can see a couple of issues with the onramp that they replaced, and both are addressed by that sentence from their site. So, begin speculation!
- The old northbound onramp lead right into the bottom of a pretty serious hill. Expanding the o/c would likely push it out on that west side, since the roadway widens in that direction on the south side of the freeway, and that would just make the merge worse. The old onramp had a pretty long run lane, so I would guess the hill and those garbage trucks had a lot to do with it.
- There's a bus stop on the onramp. I would guess that this would be one way to get the bus stop on the street, just before the onramp.
- Pedestrians would have an easier time crossing this with the new configuration. I could see the appeal of this, with the neighborhood on the north side and the heavy retail development on the south side. However, realistically, I don't see anyone in Calabasas walking longer than what's required to get their poodle to poop.
- Noise? The neighborhood to the north would lose much of the truck acceleration noise.
Again though: just speculation.
From an article in the local paper, The Acorn, back in March 2015, I extracted the following:
In March 2015, groundbreaking occurred for the new Lost Hills Bridge in western Calabasas. When it's completed in 2017, the new Lost Hills bridge will have five traffic lanes, two bike paths and a sidewalk, making the passage across the 101 Freeway safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. The Lost Hills interchange is a main access point for drivers traveling to western Calabasas and Malibu. The bridge carries almost 30,000 vehicles each day and is considered too small for the high demand. The project includes the construction of a curving on-ramp in the northeast quadrant of the interchange, and a sound wall and earthen berms to reduce traffic noise for residents of Saratoga, a community immediately north of the freeway and west of Lost Hills Road. Two-thirds of the cost of the $30-million project will be covered by the county's Measure R transportation bond funds.
I actually remember when Lost Hills Road was a tiny off-ramp, didn't have stop lights at all. I think the north side stop lights came in the early 2000s or so. My dad used to work in an office near there, so I took that exit a lot.
I didn't realize it's frequently used as a Malibu access point. Heading north/west, seems Las Virgenes makes more sense. Although I guess it would be utilized if heading south/east.
It might also be used to avoid Las Virgenes traffic, as well as for the new businesses / housing in the area.
In 2012 I had a several-month gig in Thousand Oaks, so I was coming up from the South Bay in the late afternoon (bleh). Las Virgenes to Lost Hills Road to US-101 was my route of choice. Divided, two lanes northbound (as opposed to undivided one-lane Las Virgenes) - saved a skosh of time each day on a drive where every skosh matters.