SIMI VALLEY : Freeway Connector Opening Due Oct. 15

State transportation officials are planning a mid-October opening for the Simi Valley-Moorpark freeway connector, a long-awaited project that is running about six months behind schedule and about $7 million over budget,

“We’re probably going to have a ribbon-cutting Oct. 15,” said Gary Ethier, a Caltrans engineer overseeing the project.

But he cautioned: “Virtually anything can happen in two months. It would appear that we would have traffic on it at that time, but we don’t want to be held to a hard date.”

For more than a decade, local leaders lobbied for funds to close the 2.2-mile gap between freeways. Groundbreaking took place in April, 1991.

The connector is expected to reduce traffic jams in Simi Valley and Moorpark caused by drivers who use surface streets to get between the Simi Valley and Moorpark freeways.

The project, initially budgeted at $33 million, was slated for completion last April. But Ethier said bad winter weather and the need to clean up a large waste dump along the route delayed the work and pushed the cost up to about $39 million.