13 May Is Your Property Affected by these Projects?
OCTA Expansion Plans for the I-405
The OCTA is moving full speed ahead with its plans to expand Interstate 405 (I-405) from State Route 73 (SR-73) to the Interstate 605 (I-605) junction. The OCTA press release from March 2016 states that the San Diego Freeway in Orange County is one of the most congested freeways in the county, carrying more than 300,000 vehicle trips each day. The expansion project will widen the 16 mile corridor on the I-405 freeway between SR-73 and the I-605. The project includes adding one lane in each direction from Euclid Street to the I-605 and making improvements to freeway entrances, exits and bridges. In addition, the project will construct the 405 Express Lanes. The 405 Express lanes will create two lanes in each direction from SR-73 to I-605. The OCTA projects that the travel time along this route will increase to 29 minutes by 2040. A driver utilizing the 405 Express Lanes can expect to shorten their travel time to 13 minutes.
Bristol Street Widening Project by the City of Santa Ana
The City of Santa Ana has worked in stages to improve the congestion created by unexpected growth during the late 1980s. In 1991, the City approved a plan to improve 3.9 miles along Bristol Street.
Currently the City is embarking on the realization of phase 3 and 4 of its original 1991 plan. The current project is intended to improve Bristol Street from 4 lanes to 6 lanes with a 128-foot wide right of way which would include three 12-foot wide lanes; 7-foot wide Class II bike lane on each side of the roadway; 6-foot wide parkway; 8-foot wide sidewalks and 14-foot wide raised medians.
OC Streetcar Project
The OCTA’s Streetcar Project is expected to be the first modern streetcar project for Orange County. The OC Streetcar project intends to connect Santa Ana’s historic and downtown area. The OC Streetcar will operate along a 4.15-mile route that will connect the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC) and a new transit hub at Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove.
Interstate 215 – Barton Road Interchange
The San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) is plans to rebuild the Barton Road Interchange in conjunction with the I-215 Bi-County High Occupancy Vehicle Gap Closure Project. SANBAG claims that the reconstruction of the Barton Road Interchange is necessary because of the increased traffic congestion and that the interchange serves as the primary access to the city of Grand Terrace. The project will result in the realignment of the on ramps, off ramps and the local streets. The intent of the project is to improve the flow of traffic by creating light traffic volume at the interchange.