For all of you who dread the commute to and from work, you may not need to dread it any longer… Because help is on the way. Some of Orange County’s most congested freeways will get more than $2.8 billion in new lanes, better interchanges and wider offramps under a slate of projects scheduled to begin this year. And no matter which freeway(s) you use to get around, the Orange County Transportation Authority’s plan may be providing some relief soon. The jam-packed 5 freeway, the always-lurching 405, the slow-crawl 22, and even the notorious bumper-to-bumper 91 and 57… All of these freeways will be improved, though some projects may take up to 10 years to complete.
Here, take a look at the 2008 freeway projects which will begin construction soon:
– I-5, Oso Interchange improvements, $30 million.
– I-5, Culver Interchange improvements, $3 million.
– I-5, Pico Interchange improvements, $5 million.
– I-5, new lanes from SR-91 to Los Angeles County line, $335 million.
– SR-22, new lanes from Valley View to SR-55.
So what are you thinking about OCTA’s plan to fix our freeways? Does this make you glad you voted to renew Measure M in 2006? Are you relieved that something’s finally being done about the 5 in South County and/or that the 22 redo will finally be finished soon?
Or is there something in this plan you don’t like? Are they not addressing traffic problems in your area? Do you think OCTA is still focusing too much on freeways and toll roads, and not enough on mass transit? I want to hear what you have to say about OCTA’s plan to fix our traffic problem.
Go ahead and have your say. 🙂
Well, it’s all well and good. But the real problem is this: no matter how you improve or expand freeways, the number of cars on them will simply increase till you have the same amount of congestion as before 😛
That said, the 55 needs to be blasted into rubble and rebuilt from scratch. It has the most unpredictable, and unreasonable congestion. Meh.
But light rail and public transportation are going to be the only long term solutions.
I am glad that Garden Grove Councilman Mark Rosen and OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen are heading up the OCTA committees. With them at the helm, I think we will continue to see improvements, particularly in the 22 corridor/Orange Crush area.
We really do need to do something about the 55 too. It is always congested south of the 5 Fwy.
Things will only get worse if Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido gets his wish and several luxury condo towers go up by the 5 and the Grand Ave. exit. He already has rammed through two towers in the south coast area, and is trying to foist another tower on the northern part of our city. The last thing we need is more cars in and around the 5 and the 55!