1st Street Bridge Back in Business

To the great relief of commuters and business owners, the 1st Street bridge over the Santa Ana Freeway reopened Friday morning--almost 18 months after it was closed for construction.

About 100 people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the bridge, part of a $34-million Caltrans project to widen the street and improve ramps at 1st and 4th streets in Santa Ana.

Santa Ana City Councilman Robert L. Richardson stressed that the reopening meant that Tustin and Santa Ana were once again joined.

“I kind of have the feelings that people had when they took down the Berlin Wall,” Richardson told the crowd. “It’s a big deal.”

Frank Weidler, Caltrans district director, said he knew that “many people have been inconvenienced by the widening.” Crowd members nodded in agreement, and one grumbled a loud “I’ll say.”

But the improvements, Weidler said, are expected to ease congestion and help businesses that suffered when construction started on the bridge and ramps after Dec. 10, 1991.

Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), Tustin Mayor Jim Potts, Richardson and Weidler each hopped into borrowed Hondas after the ribbon cutting and rode across the bridge, accompanied by the sounds of the Santa Ana High School marching band.

The bridge was opened for regular traffic at 1 p.m. In addition, officials announced that the 1st Street on-ramp to the southbound Santa Ana Freeway was also completed and ready for traffic.

The ramp improvement--part of a larger, $300-million construction project in central Orange County--will be completed once the 1st Street off-ramp from the northbound side of the freeway isfinished, Caltrans officials said. The off-ramp is scheduled to open by Aug. 1, they said.