Local Officials Lobby For High Desert Freeway Funding

Officials are lobbying for federal funding to construct a highway that would link the Antelope and Victor valleys and turn the High Desert areas into an inland port. The High Desert Corridor Joint Powers Authority sent letters to elected officials urging $23 million in funding to construct an east-west freeway from the Antelope Valley Freeway to Interstate 15. Estimates peg the total construct costs at $1.7 billion. The funding requests contend the new freeway would cut down on congestion and help in the further development of Los Angeles-Palmdale Regional Airport. The authority also plans to seek $26 million in fiscal year 2009. Earlier this month, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich suggested constructing an inland port in the Antelope Valley that would serve as a central distribution center for goods brought from the Port of Los Angeles.