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Costa Mesa council to review I-405 widening project report

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Costa Mesa will be affected by several construction projects under a planned 405 Freeway widening project that includes new toll lanes, according to project reports that the City Council will review Tuesday.

The construction is part of a larger, $1.7-billion effort to expand the San Diego (405) Freeway along a 14-mile stretch between Costa Mesa and the junction with the 605 Freeway, near Rossmoor.

The Orange County Transportation Authority and California Department of Transportation effort will include new general-purpose lanes and toll lanes.

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In recent years, the project has been met with significant protest from affected 405 corridor cities and their leaders, including Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Seal Beach. Costa Mesa officials formally opposed the toll lanes.

Transportation officials, however, have argued that freeway widening and its toll lanes will ease congestion, and that the effort is not about generating revenue through tolls.

OCTA is scheduled to brief the City Council and general public about the project Tuesday. In an interview Friday, the agency gave details about several 405 construction projects, scheduled to begin in 2017 and last through 2022, that affect Costa Mesa.

The Fairview Road bridge over the 405 will be replaced. It will be done in two stages so the thoroughfare remains open during construction.

The 405 southbound onramp used by motorists traveling south along Harbor Boulevard will be replaced. The ramp travels under the freeway and loops around, near the In-N-Out Burger, before winding onto the 405 south.

A new 405 southbound bridge will be constructed over the Santa Ana River in Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa, connecting with the freeway.

Vehicles will enter the bridge from eastbound Ellis Avenue, near the Fountain Valley water tank. The bridge will be near Costa Mesa’s Moon Park, but will not require the park to be removed.

The area’s existing 405 south onramp, accessed from both Ellis and southbound Euclid Street, will remain. Ellis motorists, however, will take the new bridge over the river instead. Euclid travelers will continue using the existing onramp around the water tank.

A new bridge will connect the 405 and 73 freeways. This bridge will contain two carpool/express lanes: one for northbound and one for southbound travel. The existing connections between the two freeways, which have free lanes, will remain.

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