Budget Deficit May Block O.C. Freeway Work

Orange County transportation projects on the verge of construction, including the long-awaited expansion of the Garden Grove Freeway, face the loss of more than $200 million in funding because of the state budget deficit.

The Garden Grove Freeway might lose $174 million in state money, jeopardizing plans to expedite the work, local transportation leaders said Monday. The freeway, which was in line for at least $438 million in improvements, hasn’t had a major upgrade since it opened almost 35 years ago.

Not expanding the chronically congested route as planned “is going to have a very serious negative impact,” said Arthur T. Leahy, chief executive of the Orange County Transportation Authority. “How we are going to keep moving is the problem right now.”

Facing a $21-billion-plus state budget deficit, the governor’s office has proposed about $1.8 billion in cuts for transportation projects statewide. About $1 billion of the total involves all work funded by the state Traffic Congestion Relief Program, which includes the Garden Grove Freeway.

OCTA officials said the governor’s proposed cuts for Orange County also include $17.5 million for street improvements and $12 million to help rebuild a heavily traveled rail corridor through five miles of Placentia, Anaheim and unincorporated areas. The corridor is where a freight train hit a Metrolink train in April, killing three people and injuring more than 200.

The OCTA board of directors discussed the looming setbacks for the Garden Grove Freeway and surface street projects at its Monday meeting.

Leahy said OCTA will meet with Caltrans to discuss how to proceed on the Garden Grove Freeway if the money is ultimately cut. Although the Legislature must approve the proposed budget cuts, Leahy said OCTA is not optimistic.

“We thought that if projects were already in construction, everything would be OK. It’s not OK,” Leahy said. “Some people are going to feel some real pain as a consequence.”

About $32 million in state funds for the Garden Grove Freeway has already been spent for planning, sound walls and environmental impact reports being prepared by Caltrans.

A final decision on the size of the project has not been made, but improvements are vital to relieve congestion on a roadway carrying 175,000 vehicles a day. That load is expected to grow to 210,000 vehicles in just a few years, transportation officials say.

Built in the mid-1960s, the freeway is one of Orange County’s most congested corridors during rush hours. Travel is especially slow at the notorious Orange Crush, where it meets the Santa Ana and Orange freeways. Transportation officials also note that the Garden Grove is the only freeway in the county lacking carpool lanes.

Caltrans and OCTA have considered a range of improvements to the freeway. The most likely and preferred option, transportation officials say, is a $438-million proposal to widen most of it, improve onramps and offramps, and build a single carpool lane in each direction.