![]() “The models are showing that this project could provide significant travel time savings for folks in general purpose lanes on the 91 between State Route 55 and I-15,” Johnson said. The project, which is funded by TCA and is being constructed in partnership with OCTA, Caltrans and the Riverside County Transportation Commission, will be a “fly over that goes from the 241 directly into the 91 Express, and vice versa,” Johnson said.Ĭaltrans is expected to go out for construction bids in 2023, and work could begin later that year, TCA spokesman Eugene Fields said. North of that, the planned connector between the 241 to 91 is still in its design phase, and a final scheme should be ready to go by late 2022, he said. On Orange County’s toll roads, crews are working to shore up some final details – “dotting the Is and crossing the Ts” – on the Oso Bridge project that connects the 241 with Los Patrones Parkway, which opened to the public in January, TCA’s Johnson said. The vehicles are currently under construction in northern California, and residents could start seeing them being tested here in 2023, Johnson said. The budgeted cost of the streetcar project is now $509 million. “We’re not happy about the delay, but we also know that we need to deliver the project,” he said. Unforeseen holdups included the discovery of contaminated soil under the streets of Santa Ana that had to be safely removed and stored, uncovering of human remains on the project site that required sensitive extraction and the presence of unmarked utilities throughout the city, Johnson said. While OCTA’s freeway projects “are on schedule and on budget,” the streetcar has hit some snags that have increased the price and pushed the anticipated opening to 2024. (Courtesy of OCTA.)ĭdowntown Santa Ana will be a focal point of construction on the OC streetcar in 2022 as officials forge ahead amid delays, Johnson said. The vehicles are currently under construction in northern California, and residents could start see them being tested here in 2023, OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson said. Construction on the OC streetcar, connecting Santa Ana and Garden Grove, will continue to see progress in 2022 before the vehicles themselves get delivered to Orange County in late 2022 or early 2023. The work will include adding general purpose and carpool lanes to widen the freeway and help ease congestion. With an anticipated completion date in 2026, the agency is in the process of bidding the project for construction contracts now. Mid-year, crews should break ground on the $474 million project to widen a four-mile stretch of the 55 Freeway between the 5 and the 405, Johnson said. The $580 million 5 freeway project that spans from the 73 to El Toro Road is expected to be finished in 2025. Good news for cyclists: The Aliso Creek Bikeway, which has been closed during construction work on a bridge over the riding path, is expected to reopen in the summer, Johnson said. “Major improvements” at the Avery Parkway, La Paz Road and El Toro Road interchanges will be a focal point in 2022, Johnson said, and “to a lesser degree, improvements and realignment of interchanges at Crown Valley, Oso and Alicia parkways.” Johnson said the project is on budget and on track to be completed by fall of 2023.ĭrivers taking the 5 Freeway in South Orange County will likely see crews working at several interchanges and bridges. Existing carpool lanes will be turned into express lanes, bringing the total of tolled lanes to two in each direction. The 16-mile project from Costa Mesa to Seal Beach adds one regular lane in each direction and another express lane to both sides. 1 priority” being improvements links between 241 the 91 toll roads, said TCA CEO Samuel Johnson. ![]() Meanwhile, the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operate the county’s toll roads, have a handful of projects in the pipeline, the “No. “It’s going to be a busy year overall,” said Orange County Transportation Authority CEO Darrell Johnson, which oversees many of the projects. Continued work and future project planning on major freeways and toll roads throughout Orange County promise to make 2022 another busy year in transportation activity.Ĭonstruction should ramp up on the 405 improvement project – entering its last full year before completion – and crews will continue making headway on the last two-thirds of work to be done on the 5 Freeway widening between the 73 and El Toro Road.Īfter years of planning, a project to widen a key stretch of the 55 Freeway should begin midway through 2022, launching a four-year construction process.Īnd the OC streetcar, connecting Santa Ana and Garden Grove, will continue to see progress before the vehicles themselves get delivered to Orange County in late 2022 or early 2023.
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