State Transportation Panel Rejects Santa Ana Freeway Double-Decking
The idea of double-decking the Santa Ana Freeway between the Garden Grove Freeway and the Riverside Freeway was rejected as a possible solution to rapidly escalating land costs during a meeting Thursday of the California Transportation Commission.
Former Orange County supervisor Bruce Nestande, a member of the state commission, said the commission’s own staff proposed a study of double-decking. But the panel turned down the idea because it would not save much money and would delay the $1.6-billion Santa Ana Freeway widening project another year because of the need for another environmental impact report, he said.
“It was a very brief discussion,” Nestande said. “The cost of obtaining right of way has soared. But to delay the project a year is not warranted, and it would screw up the plans for the transit way.”
The transit way, to be financed by the Orange County Transit District, is a special ramp for buses and car pools that will be separated from regular traffic.
Caltrans will conduct a review of the double-decking concept for other projects statewide, Nestande said. The agency is planning to double-deck a portion of the Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles County, and several years ago briefly considered double-decking the Santa Ana Freeway in both Orange and Los Angeles counties.
Work on the southern stretches of the Santa Ana Freeway in Irvine is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks.
Plans call for widening the freeway to 12 lanes from the current six.
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