In response to continued concern about Bouquet Canyon Road’s pending closure, city of Santa Clarita officials announced another potential change in the plan Tuesday: local access for Benz Road residents.
A planned 11-month closure of Bouquet Canyon Road — from Benz Road to David Way, with Hobbs and Sue Court also being closed off to all but emergency vehicles — drew outrage from residents at a pair of community meetings.
In December, Santa Clarita City Manager Ken Striplin told residents the city is working with the developer on the closure plan, particularly after the first meeting in November went poorly.
But several weren’t pleased with the outcome of that discussion last week, and showed up Tuesday to let the City Council know.
Outside of the roundly criticized meetings, the developer, Lennar, has declined to make any comments or answer any questions about its schedule for the work. Striplin said that the other traffic improvements that were needed before the closure could take place have been completed, except for the Benz Road gate access.
That’s what prompted Striplin’s announcement Tuesday during his response to public comment.
Lennar’s second meeting last week — held at the Santa Clarita Activities Center a few miles away off Centre Pointe Parkway due to the anticipated crowd size — was again criticized by Striplin on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think it went well. I don’t think the developer communicated very well,” Striplin said. “To get to the end of it here, I want to assure the residents that we continue to work with the developer to try to find ways to mitigate the closure.”
That’s when he announced the Bouquet Canyon Road-Benz Road access.
“The developer as of, I believe (Monday), has agreed that they will put in a … resident access gate at Benz (Road), therefore the residents that live within that community right there, it will not be a closure, it will be a resident-only access gate.”
Striplin discussed either a keyfob or window stickers for local commuters that will provide them with gate access. He said he thought that would address most of the issues residents had.
As of Tuesday, he said the gate was to be installed before the road closure could take place.
A source familiar with the project confirmed the details are still being worked out.
Lennar did a poor job of explaining the necessity for its order of operation, Striplin said, acknowledging that yes, money was a factor, but also “the very nature of the engineering” was what necessitated the closure.
The amount of grading and “the engineering that goes with it” were so significant that keeping the road open during the work was “just not really a feasible alternative,” Striplin said.
The tone of the outreach, and the lack of concern for the businesses that residents said would be essentially cut off from the local traffic they rely on, remained a frustration at City Hall on Tuesday.
