Image via octa.net/westcounty
4:20pm | After a long wait and extensive planning, construction has begun on a four-year project to add new carpool lanes to the 22, 405 and 605 Freeways that connect to each other near the border of east Long Beach and Orange County, according to a Press-Telegram article today.
The project has been controversial in that it will force northbound drivers to skip the 22 West route to enter Long Beach and direct them either to the Seal Beach Boulevard or Palo Verde exits instead. Once begun, that closure will last for one year.
You can follow detours and construction news at the project’s Twitter feed or web site.
Construction is being organized by CalTrans and the Orange County Transportation Authority. The project, dubbed West County Connectors, seeks to ease suffocating traffic at the heavily-used exchanges by expanding the freeways with new lanes and improving existing ones.
Supporters have said that the $328 million project (using Stimulus funds) will provide thousands of jobs over the next four years.
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