Coral Wilson
After more than a decade of planning, the freeway congestion that
Newport-Mesa commuters know all too well may finally be relieved --
if only temporarily.
A $100-million improvement project involving the Corona del Mar,
Costa Mesa and San Diego freeways will be completed in mid-2004. In
the near future, however, motorists will notice a few completed
improvements.
The Bristol Street exit of the San Diego Freeway, which
transportation officials shut Friday, should reopen by Nov. 15. For
the past few days, southbound Costa Mesa Freeway drivers have been
using the MacArthur Boulevard detour. Northbound San Diego Freeway
drivers have been directed to use the Fairview Road and South Coast
Drive exits.
When it reopens, motorists may be surprised at the new look of the
Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit on the northbound San Diego
Freeway. Drivers will be forced to exit earlier, but will have a
choice of taking the new Avenue of the Arts offramp or continuing to
Bristol Street.
At the same time, a new bridge will carry southbound Costa Mesa
Freeway drivers over the Bristol/Avenue of the Arts exit to merge
with the northbound San Diego Freeway. This will reduce the weaving
and lane changing that drivers experience at this interchange, said
Michael Litschi, spokesman for the Orange County Transportation
Authority.
"This has been a chronic bottleneck for a while now," Litschi
said.
More than 400,000 motorists travel the freeway interchange daily,
making it one of the 10 busiest interchanges in the nation, he said.
The Bristol exit is scheduled to open just in time for South Coast
Plaza holiday shoppers. The exit was originally set to open in April
2003 after a three-month closure, but the project is five months
ahead of schedule, Litschi said.
South Coast Plaza officials are looking forward to the future
benefits.
"The temporary inconvenience will pay off with better access to
South Coast Plaza, the whole South Coast Metro area, as well as
providing safer freeways," said Debra Gunn Downing, a South Coast
Plaza spokeswoman. "Our customers will always find a way to find us."
Also included in the San Diego and Costa Mesa freeways improvement
project are carpool lanes and a new Anton Boulevard onramp to the
northbound San Diego Freeway scheduled to open in mid-2003.
By mid-2004, new direct carpool lanes will connect the San Diego
and Costa Mesa freeways. At the same time, construction is underway
for a San Diego and Corona del Mar freeways improvement project, a
