Orange : Public Views Invited on Freeway Congestion
The Orange County Transportation Commission will solicit public comment tonight on ways to reduce the bumper-to-bumper congestion on the Santa Ana Freeway in the central county.
The open house, part of the commission’s “Bottleneck Study,” is designed to give citizens a chance to comment on the county’s initial anti-congestion proposals. With the building of the proposed Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor, it is expected that traffic on the Santa Ana Freeway will increase, causing more commuters to use surface streets during peak traffic hours.
The commission is examining the feasibility of several alternative routes, including the creation of “super streets” with freeway-type interchanges, additional lanes and limited commuter access.
Some of the proposals include widening and realigning Santiago Creek Road and Chapman Avenue, as well as adding several connecting streets to link the Costa Mesa Freeway with the proposed Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor. The freeway corridor will run from the Riverside Freeway in eastern Anaheim to San Clemente.
“By finding out what the public reaction is, by finding out the feasibility of our proposals, we hope to arrive at a list of workable options for county decision-makers to choose from,” said Shirley Montoya, the commission’s consultant for encouraging public involvement in the study.
The open house will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at Santiago Junior High School, 515 Rancho Santiago Blvd. in Orange.
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