Upgrades to Free Up I-5

Creatures of habit, beware.

Commuters using the Santa Ana Freeway will encounter new traffic ramps, tunnels and interchanges over the next nine days as workers place the finishing touches on $1.1 billion in upgrades to one of Orange County’s main arteries.

Chief among those changes is a flyover ramp that lifts traffic from the northbound Santa Ana Freeway and dumps it onto the westbound Artesia Freeway.

The ramp, which the California Department of Transportation will open early Thursday, is intended to eliminate a dangerous traffic pattern. Prior to the upgrade, drivers were forced to enter the connector route from the left side of the freeway, which required a perilous jockeying for position. Now motorists will roll onto the ramp from the right side.

More changes are in store for motorists heading to and from Disneyland and other Anaheim tourist attractions, like Edison International Field and Arrowhead Pond. On the evening of Sept. 28, Caltrans will open a complex network of carpool lanes, connector ramps and brightly tiled tunnels.

The improvements will funnel traffic leaving Disneyland’s palatial parking structure on Disneyland Drive to the Santa Ana Freeway and route incoming freeway traffic through tunnels onto Disney Way. Motorists will also benefit from a new carpool lane and a new regular traffic lane in each direction between the Orange Crush and Lincoln Avenue.

The upgrades, officials said, will reduce congestion along Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue in Anaheim and cut as much as 35 minutes from the average carpooler’s commute along the Santa Ana Freeway. Solo motorists are expected to save as much as 15 minutes as a result of the entire upgrade project.

“These changes are going to relieve a lot of traffic--that is, once the word gets out and people start using them,” said John Lower, traffic and transportation manager for Anaheim.

Since construction on the corridor began almost five years ago, Caltrans and the Orange County Transportation Authority have paid the public relations firm Paine & Associates $2.77 million to organize community outreach programs and orchestrate media events, like Tuesday’s unveiling of the improvements.

The newest and potentially most confusing interchange can be found at the intersection of Gene Autry Way and the Santa Ana Freeway.

The intersection will serve carpool vehicles only and route about 1,500 vehicles per hour to Anaheim Stadium or Disneyland during rush hour.

Two newly constructed tunnels that will funnel carpool and regular traffic onto Disney Way may also take some getting used to. The tunnels, which are brightly lit and covered with German tile and enamel renderings of the California poppy, are just a few of the improvements that were made with aesthetics in mind, officials said.

Cynthia P. Coad, an Orange County supervisor and an OCTA director, said that motorists should begin to see improved traffic flow soon, although there will be some lag time before they become fully aware of the new features.

“Once they do, they’ll definitely be changing the way they get to work,” Coad said.