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A final link joining Interstate 5 and State Highway 126 on the west and Highway 14 on the east will open at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 27 at Valley Center Drive and Golden Valley Road.
The city put on a tour of the 1,100-foot-long bridge with embossed cement reliefs of the oak trees, river and hills of Santa Clarita on Thursday. It's expected to cut travel time in half for some residents who take the 8.5-mile route.
About 75 people attended.
Among them were a young Santa Clarita Boy Scout and a senior citizen from Canyon Country, who said they'll be vying that day to be the first motorists to cross the bridge.
"I'm looking forward to driving on the bridge, and I expect to be one of the first drivers to (christen) it," said Carlin Jones, a 16-year-old junior at Golden Valley High School.
Fred Gesin, who lives in a nearby senior citizen mobile home park near the bridge, expects to use the road four or five days a week to visit his son and his family in Saugus.
"I've been watching (the construction) for the past six years. It was nothing here, and now look," Gesin said. "It was a 10-year project. Look what they accomplished."
"It's exciting. This is probably the biggest thing the city will do," said Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste.
There will be a bike path on the east side of the bridge, which is part of Santa Clara River trail, and a connection down to Soledad Canyon Road via Golden Triangle Road as part of the $245 million cross-valley connector project.
Weste encouraged all of the city's residents to use the path.
"It's recreational, healthy and inexpensive and you don't have to have a membership. You just go, and take a friend," Weste said.
