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Traffic alert: Portion of 405 Freeway in Orange County will be closed Saturday night for bridge work

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A segment of the 405 Freeway in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley will be off-limits to traffic overnight Saturday to accommodate bridge work as part of a larger roadway widening project.

The interstate will be completely closed from about 11 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday between Warner Avenue and Beach Boulevard so crews can begin demolishing the Magnolia Street bridge, which also will be closed overnight.

During the closure, drivers heading north will be detoured off the freeway at Warner and those going south will have to exit at Beach, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority.

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Demolition and reconstruction of the Magnolia Street bridge will take about 18 months, although the span is expected to be open much of that time. Scheduled work includes increasing the number of traffic lanes from four to six and adding bike lanes and sidewalks in both directions.

The bridge is one of more than 18 that will be replaced, enlarged or built as part of a $1.9-billion project to widen the 405 between the 73 Freeway in Costa Mesa and the 605 Freeway near Rossmoor.

Once the project is completed in 2023, both directions of the freeway in that 16-mile stretch will have an additional general-purpose lane and a new “express” toll lane, according to the OCTA. The existing carpool lane in each direction will be converted to an express lane.

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