Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other officials broke ground Friday on the widening of the Sepulveda Pass —using federal stimulus money, will create an estimated 18,000 jobs.

Carpool lane coming to Sepulveda Pass - LA Daily News

Click here for map of proposed construction.

WESTWOOD — With weekend gridlock building on the 405 Freeway behind them, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other officials broke ground Friday on the widening of the Sepulveda Pass — which they hailed as the nation's largest highway project using federal stimulus money.

The $1 billion project will create an estimated 18,000 jobs, Schwarzenegger said, helping ease the nation's economic crisis, which has sent unemployment above 10 percent in California.

"This money is exactly the kind of shot in the arm that we need," Schwarzenegger said during a news conference on the road between the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the 405 Freeway. "We're going to rebuild California, and we're going to put people back to work."

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, said construction of the 10-mile northbound car-pool lane — stretching along one of the most congested sections of highway from the Santa Monica Freeway to the Ventura Freeway — should be completed by 2013. Berman said the finished project will significantly improve the commute to and from the Valley.

"It's going to mean less time stuck in a car, taking what is perhaps the most congested artery anywhere in America and helping to loosen it up, which means quicker time to work, (improving) car pools and will help fuel efficiency and people's quality of lives," said Berman.

"This is going to be a magnet, and it's going to keep people from leaving the area, and it's
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going to create jobs."

Danny Curtain, director of the California Conference of Carpenters, who was among more than a dozen workers in orange hard hats at the news conference, said the project will help the construction industry, which has been hard hit by the recession.

"It's public works jobs like this that are really holding it together," Curtain said. "It's very important."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he hopes the Sepulveda Pass widening will inspire more motorists to carpool.

"Look, folks, we've got to do something about the gridlock," he said. "We've got to invest in car pools, in getting people out of their single-passenger automobiles. That's what this does. This will connect us from the San Fernando Valley all the way to Orange County.

"We'll be able to move people who are willing to get three in a car and move them through the traffic."

Schwarzenegger said that, when completed, the project will save more than 7 million vehicle hours every year.

"Imagine the 7 million hours it will save us," he said. "It means those 7 million hours can be spent with the children and the families rather than getting stuck in traffic.

"It's important to get people and vehicles moving again. You know that's economy power — to move people and goods faster."

The governor said the Sepulveda Pass widening project will use $190 million in state-expedited stimulus package funds. That stimulus money is among the $372 million currently in the hands of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

While not addressing the issue of the additional $614 million still needed to complete the $1 billion project, the governor said California will ultimately receive $4.5 billion in stimulus money.

The $614 million is money originally approved by voters in a bond measure but withheld by the state as it grappled with its massive budget deficit.