Talbert Avenue bridge over 405 Freeway to be demolished starting this weekend

Crews this weekend will begin demolishing the Talbert Avenue bridge over the 405 Freeway in Fountain Valley, resulting in a full freeway closure overnight Saturday.

The bridge has been closed since last week in preparation for the project, in which it will be rebuilt during the next year. The span will be widened from four lanes to six and feature bike lanes and sidewalks in both directions.

This weekend’s work will close the northbound 405 between Euclid Street and Talbert Avenue and the southbound lanes between Brookhurst Street and Talbert from 11 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority. Detours will be in effect.

That scenario will be repeated the weekend of Sept. 21-22.

Additional demolition activities will occur weeknights with some freeway lane closures, OCTA said.

Elsewhere in Fountain Valley, the Bushard Street bridge over the 405 also is scheduled to be rebuilt. It will still have four lanes, along with sidewalks and bike lanes in each direction.

The rebuilt Slater Avenue bridge reopened to traffic last week after a nearly year-long closure. The new bridge is 78 feet wide, about 15 feet wider than the original, and has larger sidewalks and bicycle paths on both sides. The bridge also meets the latest seismic criteria and was built using pavement designed to limit noise for the surrounding neighborhood, according to project officials.

The bridges are among 18 that will be built, replaced or reconfigured as part of an ongoing $1.9-billion project to widen 16 miles of the 405 between the 73 Freeway in Costa Mesa and the 605 Freeway near the Los Angeles County line.

Once the project is complete in early 2023, both directions of the freeway in that stretch will have an additional general-purpose lane and a new “express” toll lane. The existing carpool lane in both directions will be converted to an express lane.

To learn more about the project, visit octa.net/405improvement.