OCTA and Caltrans are working to address the community’s feedback since the draft environmental documents’ release in May for plans to improve the San Diego Freeway (I-405) in Orange County between Costa Mesa and the Los Angeles County line.

The public submitted more than 1,200 official letters and e-mails during the comment period that ended on July 17.

The three construction options for the I-405 include:

Alternative 1: Add One General Purpose (GP) Lane in Each Direction  Alternative 1 would add a single GP lane in each direction on the I-405 from Euclid Street to the I-605 interchange.

Alternative 2: Add Two General Purpose Lanes in Each Direction

Alternative 2 would add one GP lane in each direction on I-405 from Euclid Street to the I-605 interchange (as in Alternative 1), plus add a second GP lane in the northbound direction from Brookhurst Street to the State Route 22 (SR-22) / 7th Street interchange and a second GP lane in the southbound direction from the Seal Beach Boulevard on-ramp to Brookhurst Street.

Alternative 3: Add One General Purpose Lane in Each Direction and Add Express Lanes

Alternative 3 would add one GP lane in each direction of the I-405 freeway from Euclid Street to the I-605 interchange (as in Alternatives 1 and 2), plus add a tolled express lane in each direction of I-405 from the SR-73 to the SR-22 east. The tolled express lane and the existing HOV lanes would be managed jointly as a tolled express facility with two lanes in each direction from the SR-73 to the I-605.

In response to the public’s feedback, OCTA and Caltrans are exploring these project design refinements: truncating the express lanes under Alternative 3 north of Fairview Avenue to avoid re-construction of the Fairview Bridge; reconfiguring the Magnolia Avenue/Warner Avenue interchange to avoid the need to acquire up to four full businesses in Fountain Valley; and educing impacts to parking in Westminster by altering the project design Potentially avoiding the wall relocation on Almond Avenue in the College Park East Neighborhood of Seal Beach through design variations

In addition to those refinements, OCTA will review the existing data and perform additional traffic analysis in response to issues related to lane configurations at the Orange and Los Angeles county border, as well as at the I-405/SR-73 interchange.