Slow Ahead: Signs Point to Traffic All Weekend : Travel: It will seem like two days of rush hour in many areas with freeway repaving, construction and mall crowds.

Motorists looking for weekend relief from snarled traffic may be out of luck in Orange County today and Sunday.

With repaving work on the San Diego Freeway, ongoing construction on the Costa Mesa Freeway and crowds anticipated at the newly reopened Shops at Mission Viejo mall, driving on many Orange County roads this weekend is expected to cause headaches.

The most serious delays probably will be on the northbound San Diego Freeway between Magnolia Street and Beach Boulevard, where all but one lane will be closed from Friday night until early Sunday morning.

The repaving operation, part of a $1.5-million Caltrans project to resurface that stretch of the freeway, caused serious problems two weekends ago, backing up traffic nine miles south to Jamboree Road.

Work was suspended last week for the busy Labor Day weekend but will continue on weekends through the end of the month, Caltrans officials said.

“We’ve warned businesses that the work may have an impact,” Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Orem said. “We’re advising people to plan their routes to avoid that area if at all possible.”

Earlier in the year, Caltrans had done similar repaving work without keeping the lanes shut down for the duration of the project. The policy was changed after Caltrans received numerous complaints from motorists, including some damage claims from rocks flying up from the unfinished roadway.

“It just didn’t work to keep the lanes opened after we ground them down,” Orem said. “The backlash from the public was too great.”

To bypass the traffic, drivers are advised to use surface streets or take the Costa Mesa Freeway north to the westbound Garden Grove Freeway.

The reopening of the Shops of Mission Viejo on Friday left traffic backed up on Crown Valley Parkway in the morning, with some delays spilling over to the San Diego Freeway in South County.

Judy Bullockus, marketing manager for the mall, said off-site parking for employees--unavailable on Friday--should free up hundreds of parking spots over the weekend and ease congestion. In addition, sheriff’s deputies will be at the mall all weekend helping to direct traffic, she said.

“We’re telling people to take the Avery Parkway exit instead of Crown Valley Parkway,” Bullockus said. “Then you can just take a short skip back to Marguerite Parkway and head right into our new six-story parking structure.”

John Standiford, spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, said drivers on the Costa Mesa Freeway should see fewer delays than earlier in the summer, with one construction job south of the Garden Grove Freeway now completed.

“It should be better than it was,” he said, “although there is still construction.”

Driving conditions are also improving on the Santa Ana Freeway, which is undergoing a $1-billion widening, and other area roads, Standiford said.

Still, he said weekends may not be refuge from congestion: “A lot of miles are traveled on the weekends, especially in the summer. You can’t ignore the importance of weekend congestion.”

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Traffic Trouble Spots

A newly-reopened shopping mall in Mission Viejo, a roadway resurfacing project in Fountain Valley and ongoing construction in north Orange County could combine to make freeway driving difficult this weekend.

Source: Caltrans, OCTA