The I-5 Freeway will be widened between El Toro Road and Crown Valley. Included will be the reconstruction of the LaPaz and Avery interchanges, even though they were both recently re-done. The plan was reported by the OCTA at Monday’s MV Council meeting.
The concept will be shared at a public Open House at City Hall on February 27 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. An environmental study has been in progress since 2011. That EIR will be presented at a formal public hearing in a few months. A 4-year design faze will then commence next year. Construction is scheduled for 2018 to 2022.
OCTA is not yet saying if additional property will need to be purchased or seized through eminent domain procedures. It does confirm that soundwalls will need to erected along some residential stretches.
The graphic below illustrates the current lane configuration followed by two potential alternatives.
One or two new lanes are planned in each direction to accommodate a predicted 25% increase in traffic over the next two decades
The OCTA will partially fund the $560 million project from Measure M revenue. Construction will be supervised by CalTrans. A separate project is currently upgrading the I-5 from San Juan Creek Rd in SJC southward to Avenido Pico in San Clemente. That $275 million construction job is due to be completed in 2017.
The OCTA spokesperson noted that South OC has only the I-5 corridor while North OC has several freeway routes. The proposed 241 Toll Road extension from Oso Parkway to San Clemente has been in limbo for years due to environmental issues. Although still alive, the 241 extension may be further impaired by increasing I-5 capacity.
Widening is planned from El Toro Rd to just south of Crown Valley
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Why wait five more years? Let’s get construction started in 2013. The same with the missing piece of 241. Build it in 2014, and tell those with the bogus claims regarding the beach to “get real.” Both infrastructure projects would create temporary jobs during construction, then would be productive assets contributing to many jobs and economic activities for a long time into the future.