Trail of Years

SANTA CLARITA VALLEY — Amid mixed emotions from the Chumash Indian community, Caltrans on Tuesday celebrated the completion of the California 126 widening project.

It took 15 years and $60.6 million to widen from two to four lanes the 32-mile stretch from the Golden State Freeway near Santa Clarita to Santa Paula in Ventura County.

Much of the work was done on Chumash burial grounds, but members of the Indian community supported the expansion at Tuesday’s roadside ceremony near the highway’s Chiquita Canyon exit.

The event, which included a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speeches by community members and state officials, ended with a blessing ritual led by Chumash Indian spiritual leader Alan Salazar, who served as a consultant on the expansion project.

Salazar burned sage and tobacco and sang a traditional Chumash welcome song to celebrate the opening of the wider highway.

“This is extremely difficult for a lot of reasons,” Salazar said. “My ancestors lived here and many of their remains were right underneath that road.

“But we can’t stop development. We haven’t been able to stop it for the last 500 years.”

The remains were unearthed and reburied in a private ceremony, said Beverly Folks, a Chumash who spoke at the ceremony and whose ancestors were buried at the site.

“It was heartbreaking and very emotional to see their remains dug up,” Folks said. “They’ve been [reburied] where they will never be disturbed again.”

Folks thanked Caltrans workers for handling the remains respectfully and working closely with the Chumash community while excavating them.

She said most Chumash share her view that the expansion was necessary.

“I use this freeway all the time,” she said. “We know the project was needed for the safety of the people.”

Salazar, who lives in Ventura, agreed: “I use it as much as anyone. My kids live in Bakersfield, so I’m glad the highway is going to be safer.”

The scenic route travels through miles of rolling hills, citrus groves and other agriculture, but for decades has been called “Blood Alley” for the many deaths and injuries that have occurred on the road.

Accidents on California 126 caused 825 injuries and 49 deaths between January 1992 and January 1997, according to the most recent Caltrans figures.

Caltrans and California Highway Patrol officials expect those numbers to decline now that there are more lanes.

“The road volume was increasing greatly and impatient drivers would pass, which led to many unfortunate fatalities,” said Tony Harris, the Caltrans district manager in charge of the expansion. “It’s going to be a much safer highway now.”

Barbara Wampole, who for 27 years has lived a stone’s throw from the road, isn’t so sure about the widening.

“It’s going to make it easier for people to commute, which means there will be a greater demand for housing and that means an increase in pollution,” she said.

“That’s not so good.”