A New Route for 395

A new route for 395

SANBAG proposed realignments of highway could cut through existing residential and commercial areas HighDesert officials see obstacles

Hillary Borrud January 31, 2007

VICTORVILLE — Any way the San Bernardino Associated Government slices it, the realignment and widening of Highway 395 will cut through established communities in the HighDesert.

With an 80 percent increase in traffic on the existing highway over the past 15 years, the project is badly needed, according to SANBAG. But with construction not expected to begin until 2015, SANBAG and Caltrans are working to select the realignment route now so that cities and towns can preserve the right-of-way in their General Plans.

“I don’t think it’s gonna happen in our lifetimes,” said Hesperia City Councilman Ed Pack.

Yet even with a decade or more looming before construction, local officials at an information meeting on Monday night saw obstacles ahead when maps of SANBAG’s three proposed alignments were made public for the first time.

“No matter which way it goes, they’re going to buy a lot of homes, and there’s a lot of expense involved,” Pack said.

SANBAG said it hopes to complete its environmental impact report on the three alternatives and select a preferred route by March 2008, said spokeswoman Cheryl Donahue. Meanwhile, Caltrans will conduct more in-depth environmental, socioeconomic and other studies on the three SANBAG proposals and five Caltrans realignment routes.

Eric Tom / Staff Photographer
Traffic flows through the intersection of Highway 395 and Phelan Road where the proposed alignments by the San Bernardino Associated Government would bypass completely.

Caltrans completed a project study report on five alternatives in 2001, but problems have since arisen with them as western VictorValley has developed.

“Caltrans will let the environmental process eliminate or determine what those alter natives are through the public feedback,” said Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Melgoza.

The Caltrans studies are expected to take three to four years longer than the SANBAG one, according to SANBAG.

Victorville City Councilman Mike Rothschild said he opposes the SANBAG alternative that cuts the farthest north into Victorville. “In my opinion, it’s bad planning and bad engineering,” he said.

Rothschild has asked for the alternatives to be placed on the City Council agenda for next Tuesday. He also requested staff reports from the city’s engineering and planning departments.

“We can tell them we’ll refuse to protect that area,” said Rothschild.

The city already has a good deal of planning and buildings in the area and could face up to $100 million in lawsuits from property owners if the highway realignment cuts through existing or planned development.

For Adelanto Mayor Pro Tem Charley Glasper, maps of the proposed realignments raised concerns because they showed the High Desert Corridor, or E- 220, ending at the current Highway 395. E-220 is a longterm plan to replace Highway 18 with a route from Palmdale that circles around the northern fringe of the VictorValley.

“The thing I’m concerned about is that 395 is going to be bombarded by a lot of traffic just because they don’t have the money to finish E-220,” he said.

Glasper said he is concerned that E-220 as mapped out in the meeting would dump too much traffic into Adelanto and the already congested Highway 395. The realignment through Adelanto should be to the west, Glasper said, so that it avoids recent home developments.

The first of several public meetings will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at QuailValleyMiddle School, 10058 Arrowhead Road in Phelan.

For more information, visit and click on active projects on the home page, or call (877) HWY-395R.