Traffic detoured for three weeks to align railroad tracks with new bridge
ORANGE – Beach Boulevard, where it crosses the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) in Buena Park, will close for three weeks beginning Jan. 5.
The closure is necessary to raise the Union Pacific railroad tracks to align with the new bridge. Once work is complete, traffic will move to the newly constructed southbound side of Beach Boulevard and construction will begin on the northbound side for approximately eight months.
The following ramps also will have closures:
· Southbound I-5 Beach Boulevard on-ramp from Jan. 5 to September 2009
· Southbound I-5 Beach Boulevard off-ramp continuing from December to end of January 2009
Work on the bridge is taking place as part of the I-5 Gateway project, which is adding one new lane and one new carpool lane in each direction. Currently nearly 60 percent complete, the project also reconstructed the Western Avenue bridge, the Northbound I-5/Artesia Boulevard interchange and the Stanton Avenue bridge.
Construction on the Beach Boulevard bridge, the last to be rebuilt, began in March and is anticipated to be complete by late 2009.
I-5 Gateway Facts
Project length (in miles) 2
Current lanes (each direction) 3
Future lanes (each direction) 5
Average daily vehicle traffic in 2004 172,000
Average daily vehicle traffic in 2020 321,000
Cities traversed Buena Park, La Mirada
Start of construction 2006
End of construction 2010
For more information regarding the project, visit www.octa.net/i5gateway or call the Transportation Helpline at (800) 724-0353.
