OCTA OKs freeway study

Deepa Bharath

Orange County Transportation Authority board members have approved a

$1.1-million study of extending the Orange Freeway along the Santa

Ana River to the San Diego Freeway and possibly the Corona del Mar

Freeway, officials said.

Staff presented to board members on Monday a preliminary study

that showed that “there is a traffic demand” that justifies extending

the freeway from the Santa Ana Freeway, OCTA spokesman Michael

Litschi said.

“The extension will affect Costa Mesa only in that it will connect

with the San Diego Freeway,” he said. “We have no onramps, offramps

or exits planned in Costa Mesa.”

The City Council has expressed its support for the project as long

as it does not extend south of the San Diego Freeway, city traffic

engineer Peter Naghavi said.

“The extension itself will be of minimum benefit to Costa Mesa,”

he said. “It will definitely make a difference in the traffic

congestion because it will reduce the congestion in the area near

South Coast Plaza.”

But the city will never permit the extension south of the San

Diego Freeway, a move that would affect several residential

neighborhoods, Naghavi said.

Litschi said the preliminary analysis found that the extension

could carry between 111,000 and 148,000 trips each day by 2025 if it

connected with the San Diego and Corona del Mar freeways.

“It will also definitely result in reduction of traffic on the

Costa Mesa Freeway,” he said.

The seven-mile project could cost as much as $1 billion, Litschi

said.

“But we’re still in the initial stages,” he said. “We’ve only

taken the first step.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].