Deirdre Newman
As anyone who commutes between Orange and Los Angeles counties knows
too well, the drive isn't easy.
Officials with the Orange County Transportation Authority hope to
change that and are looking for long-range solutions to traffic
congestion and access along the San Diego Freeway between the Corona
del Mar and San Gabriel freeways. The San Gabriel Freeway runs from
Bolsa Chica Road in Orange County to Duarte Road in Los Angeles
County.
The authority has been studying 13 options and has narrowed them
down to three. Those three were unveiled Wednesday at an open house
in Costa Mesa. While the options mostly seek to alleviate rush-hour
congestion, they will also improve traffic throughout the day
because any of the three solutions will provide more capacity than
today, said Kurt Brotcke, a manager of corridor studies for the
authority.
The challenge is trying to balance freeway expansion against
having to acquire land and buildings, thus intruding on neighboring
property, Brotcke said.
"For this conceptual study, possible impacts to neighborhoods were
greatly reduced by realigning the freeway to one side and widening on
that side," Brotcke said.
One alternative would add a lane in each direction north of
Brookhurst Street to the San Gabriel Freeway and auxiliary lanes in
places where they can be added without having to acquire major
property. Auxiliary lanes run between on and off ramps that ease the
flow of traffic. It's estimated to cost $500 million.
A second option would provide two express lanes in each direction
with a maximum of one entry point, potentially at Beach Boulevard.
Doing so would separate long-distance and local traffic. The option
also would provide an auxiliary lane between most interchanges along
the freeway and has the potential to carry express bus service along
the new express lanes. It would cost about $2.4 billion.
The third alternative calls for an additional lane north of
Brookhurst Street to the San Gabriel Freeway and auxiliary lanes
between most interchanges. It would also provide a second carpool
lane and a rapid-transit bus service operating in the carpool lanes
between downtown Long Beach and John Wayne Airport. Bus stations
would be located in the center of the freeway at main roads where
riders could transfer to them. This plan would cost about $1.5
billion.
The authority is taking input on these options before doing
additional technical analysis on them. It is expected to choose one
