Planned closure of 405 Freeway in Costa Mesa postponed due to weekend rain forecast

This weekend’s planned closure of a stretch of the 405 Freeway in Costa Mesa for demolition work on the Fairview Road bridge has been postponed a week because of a forecast of rain.

The Orange County Transportation Authority said Thursday morning that the full freeway closure, which had been scheduled for overnight Saturday between Fairview and the 73 Freeway, will now take place from about 11 p.m. March 9 to 9 a.m. the following day.

The Fairview bridge is being torn down and rebuilt in two stages, allowing it to largely remain open to traffic in some capacity during the project, which is expected to take up to 24 months to complete, according to the OCTA.

Once reconstructed, the bridge will still have 10 traffic lanes. However, OCTA plans to install a 4-foot-wide painted median and widen the existing sidewalks and bicycle lanes.

During the freeway closure, several ramps and connectors will be cordoned off during the construction period, including:

• Fairview from South Coast Drive to McCormack Lane
• Northbound 73 to northbound 405 connector
• Northbound 405 offramp to Susan Street
• Northbound 405 offramp to Harbor Boulevard
• Northbound 405 onramp from Fairview
• Southbound 405 to southbound 73 connector
• Southbound 405 onramp from Fairview
• Southbound 73 onramp from Fairview

Detour signs will be in place to help drivers navigate the area.

The Fairview bridge is one of 18 that will be rebuilt as part of a larger $1.9-billion effort to expand 16 miles of the 405 between the 73 Freeway and the 605 Freeways near Rossmoor.

That project — which is expected to be complete in 2023 — will add an additional general-purpose lane and a new “express” toll lane to both directions of the freeway in that stretch. The carpool lane in each direction will be converted to an express lane, according to the OCTA.

For more information, visit octa.net/405improvement.

Money writes for Times Community News.

lucas.money@latimes.com