Dear Editor,
A Feb. 21 opinion piece published by the Daily 49er questions the need for the Orange County Transportation Authority’s West County Connectors (WCC) project. Aside from the author of that piece, I think that those who regularly drive this area clearly understand the need for improvements. Linking the carpool lanes on the San Diego Freeway (I-405), the San Gabriel River Freeway (I-605) and the Garden Grove Freeway (SR-22) will go a long way in reducing congestion and enhancing safety, allowing people to spend less time stuck in traffic.
The WCC project will eliminate the need for drivers in the carpool lanes to dangerously weave in and out of traffic in order to transfer onto the interchanges, and it will add an additional carpool lane on I-405 between SR-22 and I-605.
The $277 million project is funded by federal and state funds intended to improve air quality and reduce congestion in addition to federal stimulus dollars. Not only will this project improve traffic flow, but it also will create thousands of jobs at a time when the construction sector continues to suffer from record unemployment.
More than 300,000 vehicles a day travel this area and that number is expected to grow significantly in decades to come. Construction projects of this scope are building for the future and unfortunately they do come with short-term inconveniences.
The project requires replacement of the Valley View Street bridge over SR-22, the Seal Beach Boulevard bridge over I-405 and the Seventh Street bridge. Crews will reconstruct the Seal Beach Boulevard and Valley View Street bridges one half at a time so they can remain open to traffic.
The Seventh Street bridge will fully close for up to 12 months beginning this spring. Because the existing and future configurations overlap, the sharp angle of the bridge and the need to construct carpool lanes on I-405 underneath, the bridge cannot be constructed one half at a time.
OCTA has worked extensively with Long Beach to minimize impacts from the detours and is funding signal synchronization on Studebaker Road and Palo Verde, upgrades to the Stearns Street on-ramp, west Second Street and Studebaker intersection upgrades and continual monitoring of the detour routes for roadway impacts.
OCTA understands construction impacts are never ideal, and for the last three years we have worked closely with residents, businesses and schools — including Cal State Long Beach — to keep those impacts minimal.
Most recently, OCTA had a booth on campus near the bookstore during the first week of classes to provide project information. OCTA also printed more than 30,000 envelope inserts to be mailed to all students, faculty and staff during parking pass distribution this semester and regularly submits posts for the Cal State Long Beach Facebook and Twitter accounts.
We will do our best to keep you up to date and encourage you to take role in staying informed by signing up for construction alerts at www.octa.net/westcounty, following us on twitter @wccprojectinfo and checking out our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/WCCProjectInfo.
Will Kempton, CEO
Orange County Transportation Authority
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