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Santa Ana Ceremony Heralds $5-Million Overpass Connecting Downtown Areas

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Times Staff Writer

It was back in 1965 when officials in Santa Ana first proposed that Broadway be extended across the Santa Ana Freeway to link anticipated development with the downtown Civic Center area.

Twenty years and several million dollars later, the overpass is finally a reality. Today at 9:30 a.m., Mayor Dan Griset and state and county representatives will cut a ribbon and drive south on the $5-million structure to cap off the 20-year battle.

The effort was slowed by a lengthy state environmental impact study and funding process, said Caltrans Deputy Director Chuck Ford, who noted that a final agreement was signed in 1982 and construction began in April, 1984.

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“What the overcrossing does is modernize that whole area,” said Assistant City Manager Rex Swanson, noting that an “ancient” southbound freeway off-ramp has also been improved. “And it gives us a secondary way to connect Main Place and the other developments with downtown.”

To clear a path for the roadway, an additional $3 million was spent to purchase a trailer park, an Interstate Bakeries (Weber’s Bread)building, 11 houses and a corner of the Skate Ranch just west of the overpass. Caltrans spent about $250,000 and the city and county split the remainder.

About 60 residents were displaced and Caltrans handled all the relocation payments. The 45 trailer-dwellers received a total of $162,000, ranging from $51 for one person to $31,000 for a family of eight, said Norm Juarez of Caltrans.

One of the biggest factors in the construction is the planned expansion of Fashion Square shopping mall (to be renamed Main Place) with 1.5 million square feet of office space, a 1,200-room hotel and an additional 1 million square feet of mall shops, including Nordstrom and Robinson department stores. The first phase, dealing specifically with the mall shops, is expected to get under way in December.

Developers JMB/Federated Realty and Henry Segerstrom asked the city to guarantee construction of the overpass as part of the Main Place agreement, Swanson said. Although Santa Ana couldn’t make such a guarantee, the agreement was signed when it became apparent that the state would fund the project, he said. The state paid $5 million and the city and county put in $1.5 million each.

Acquisition of the trailer park and bakery property has proven to be a fruitful endeavor for the city.

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Two projects are now going up on those sites--Lowy Development is building a three-story office building southwest of Owens Drive to be called Northtown Center and Main Street and Halferty Development is constructing the Gateway Center, an additional 40,000 square feet of offices southwest of Broadway and Owens.

City Engineer Robert Eichblatt said the project also features sound walls and 30-foot evergreen trees to reduce noise for residents living southwest of the overpass.

He said the Main Street bridge will have to be closed if Caltrans undertakes a proposed widening of the Santa Ana Freeway. Traffic would be rerouted onto Broadway.

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