$60 Million Spread Across O.C. Streets

By MEGAN GARVEY

April 13, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Nearly every city in Orange County got a little something Monday when county transit officials doled out more than $60 million in Measure M funds. The projects approved range from $4.2 million to help straighten and widen Laguna Canyon Road to $6,000 to stripe bike lanes in Lake Forest.

In the realm of transportation projects, $60 million isn’t much. After all, the money comes from Measure M, the benefactor of such massive projects as the $1-billion widening of the Santa Ana Freeway.

But for Orange County commuters, the funds earmarked for more than 200 projects may make a big difference in daily drive times. Monday’s allocation was part of a competitive process among cities that sought money for 313 transportation improvements.

Motorists tired of waiting at long lights may find some relief in the next five years, with more than 60 traffic signals countywide scheduled for improvements.

In Anaheim, more than $800,000 will go to help city traffic engineers switch over a dozen traffic signals from 15-year-old technology to a new state-of-the-art system.

“It really is a way to squeeze additional capacity on these streets without having to do big widening projects,” said John Lower, head traffic engineer for Anaheim. “The software we are going to use should save 20% to 25% of travel times.”

Lower said the project would be much harder to implement without the funds approved by Orange County Transportation Authority board members.

Also making the cut were two major improvements of interchanges on the Garden Grove Freeway, with $2.6 million set aside for work on the freeway ramps at Harbor Boulevard and $1.6 million allocated for work at The City Drive. The already crowded interchange at The City Drive has gotten even busier since the November opening of the Block at Orange, an 811,000-square-foot entertainment and shopping complex.

The long-delayed improvement to Laguna Canyon Road includes widening the state highway in places and making it safer and straighter. The $4.2 million makes up the county’s share of the $27-million project, which is now scheduled to begin the middle of next year.

Only three cities did not get a share of the Measure M funds awarded Monday. Laguna Beach did not qualify because city officials have refused to put the San Joaquin Hills toll road or a planned extension of Aliso Creek Road on their city maps. Villa Park did not submit any applications, and Laguna Woods was not yet a city when the application process began last year.

Those cities do get other Measure M funds as part of an allocation that automatically goes back to all Orange County cities each year.

Over Measure’s M 20-year lifetime, more than $3 billion is expected to be raised. About $1.6 billion has already been distributed. The tax is set to expire in 2011.

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Road Work Ahead

More than $60 million in Measure M funds was allocated by the Orange County Transportation Authority Monday for roadwork planned over the next five years. A look at the top countywide road improvement projects:

Location: County

Project: Laguna Canyon Road straightening

Cost: $4,227,748

Location: Garden Grove

Project: Harbor Blvd./22 Fwy. interchange improvements

Cost: $2,615,283

Location: Santa Ana

Project: Main Street/McFadden Ave. gap closure

Cost: $1,892,018

Location: Orange

Project: City Drive/22 Fwy. interchange improvements

Cost: $1,636,420