Countywide : Study of Improvements for Freeways Endorsed

Hoping to alleviate an anticipated traffic bottleneck, the county Transportation Commission on Monday endorsed a plan to study a new interchange, frontage roads and freeway ramps at the juncture of the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways.

Traffic congestion at the point where the two freeways merge is already bad and will probably get much worse when the freeways are widened to accommodate additional cars, the commission staff said.

The new studies have been sought by the City of Irvine, the county transportation planning office and the Irvine Co., which is developing several major new projects in the area.

The Transportation Commission and the state Department of Transportation have been cautious about launching such a study because of uncertainties over funding for widening the Santa Ana Freeway, Orange County’s highest priority in traffic improvement.

The widening will cost at least $703 million, of which only $235 million has been allocated by the state. Additional improvements to the freeway would compete with the primary project for state funds.

However, the city and the Irvine Co. have already agreed to pay for construction of the Bake Parkway interchange, either through contributions from the company or assessments on new development in the area.

The new interchange, which would significantly relieve congestion on the nearby Lake Forest Drive interchange and surface streets in addition to serving new development, would cost an estimated $13 million.

There is still no identified funding source for the additional $30 million it would cost to build new freeway ramps and frontage roads to reduce the traffic bottleneck at the juncture of the two freeways.

But the Irvine Co. has offered to consider delaying the payment due it for the state’s purchase of company-owned land needed to widen the Santa Ana Freeway. In this way, the state could more readily free a source of money for the bottleneck improvements.

The company has also agreed to pay for the study endorsed by the county’s Transportation Commission. The California Transportation Commission and Caltrans must also agree to the study before it can proceed.