More expansion work coming on 10th Street West

PALMDALE — In an effort to ensure continued progress on a project to widen 10th Street West near the Antelope Valley Mall, the City Council on March 1 approved a $190,000 contract with an engineering firm to provide project management.

The project would widen busy 10th Street West from six to eight lanes from just south of Rancho Vista Boulevard (Avenue P) to Avenue O-4; add additional right turn lanes from 10th Street West onto the northbound Antelope Valley Freeway and the mall entrance; add traffic signal upgrades and modifications at the intersections of 10th Street West and Rancho Vista Boulevard, mall entrance, Destination O-8 and the southbound freeway offramp; add north- and southbound right turn lanes on 10th Street West at Rancho Vista Boulevard; modify the existing on- and off-ramps at 10th Street West; and other improvements.

The contract with MNS Engineers will provide a representative for the city to help manage the final design, Public Works Director Lynn Glidden said.

The city contracted in 2015 with AECOM Technical Services for nearly $2.5 million for the final environmental and engineering for the project, and amended that contract in February 2020 for $280,000 in additional engineering, and again in September 2021 for $529,000 for additional landscape architectural design, appraisal and acquisition services.

The project is about 95% complete in the design phase, Glidden said. After that comes right-of-way acquisition, which is estimated to take 12 to 18 months, and moving utilities. Altogether, it is estimated to be about three-and-a-half years before

the two-year construction phase begins.

“It’s good this project is going to continue forward because that’s an area that

really needs a lot of attention to break up the congestion,” Councilmember Richard Loa said.

The project is funded with money received from Measure R in 2013, Glidden said.