The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority said construction may ramp up this summer on Interstate 5 along Santa Clarita as its interstate enhancements project eyes a March 2027 end date.
Metro’s virtual, open-to-the-public presentation Wednesday gave online attendees a progress report on the I-5 North County Enhancements Project, a nearly $680 million undertaking with the California Department of Transportation.
The most significant goal of the project is to prepare the 14-mile corridor between Castaic and the I-5 interchange with State Route 14 for significant growth in Santa Clarita, which, according to Metro, is expected to add 25,000 residents by 2035.
By the time the project is through, that 14-mile stretch is anticipated to have a new carpool lane going north and south, four new sound wall segments, widened bridges and truck lanes and 43 new retaining walls, among other improvements.
The second quarter of 2026 is expected to see the completion of “Stage 1,” or construction on the new carpool lanes, walls, bridges (or areas where the I-5 passes over a dip) and medians, which started back in October 2021, according to Metro’s presentation Wednesday.
Stage 2, or construction on ramp upgrades — which began in April 2024 — and Stage 3 exterior retaining wall work, scheduled to begin in August, will be wrapped up by the end of this year.
Metro announced during its last community update back in February that Santa Claritans could expect intermittent closures on some roads as crews put the finishing touches on bridges and overhaul specific ramps over the summer.
And according to Wednesday’s update, several ramp closures now have a start date sometime in June, July and August.
Saroya Sandiford, Metro’s community relations manager, said crews are working on bridges at Gavin Canyon, Rye Canyon Road and Magic Mountain Parkway. Those schedules have changed little since the February update:
- The Old Road will be closed during overnight hours for work on the Gavin Canyon bridge intermittently throughout the summer of 2026 between Calgrove Boulevard and Weldon Canyon Road between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. on weeknights, and Saturdays as needed.
- Wednesday’s presentation added that while replacing the Gavin Canyon bridge’s joint sealing, scheduled for September this year, the north and southbound sides of the I-5 may be closed for two to three nights.
- Magic Mountain Parkway will be closed intermittently throughout the summer as the Magic Mountain Parkway bridge is expanded, between The Old Road and Tourney Road, between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weeknights and Saturdays as needed.
- Rye Canyon Road will be closed intermittently throughout the summer for Rye Canyon Road bridge work between Avenue Stanford and The Old Road, from 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weeknights and as necessary on Saturdays.
Sandiford added the final roadway striping on those bridges was scheduled for a wrap-up date in the fall of 2026.
As far as ramp closures go, Sandiford said the project had completed one of its major long-term ramp closures: the northbound Hasley Canyon Road on-ramp, which lasted from April until mid-May.
But the project still has other long-term ramp closures ahead of it, beginning in July this year. Wednesday’s presentation gave a breakdown of other ramps that would be closed this summer, as well as ramps where traffic will be shifted over:
- The northbound Calgrove Boulevard on-ramp will be closed 24 hours a day beginning in July. Drivers traveling on Calgrove Boulevard are asked to go north on Wiley Canyon Road and west on Lyons Avenue/Pico Canyon Road to the northbound I-5.
- The southbound Hasley Canyon Road/Sedona Way on-ramp will be closed 24 hours a day beginning in August. Drivers going north on the Old Road are asked to enter the northbound Hasley Canyon Road hook on-ramp.
- The southbound Valencia Boulevard off-ramp will be closed intermittently during the night between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. through October 2026 as new striping is laid down to shift traffic over for construction crews.
- The southbound State Route 126 on-ramp and southbound Rye Canyon Road off-ramp will see traffic shifts as new striping is laid down beginning in June.
- The southbound Halsey Canyon Road off-ramp will see traffic shifts beginning in August of 2026.
Crews are currently working on a grab bag of other jobs, including completing construction on various sound and retaining walls on the northbound and southbound sides, improving drainage and installing new signs and metal barriers.
“So while drivers may experience construction in different areas throughout our corridor, all of these activities are happening simultaneously to help move us up towards overall completion in the spring of 2027,” Sandiford said.
