The northbound I-405/westbound SR-22 Seventh Street connector will re-open by the end of this month, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA).
The bridge that links Cal State Long Beach to Orange County has been closed since last April but the 12-month project is in its last stages, according to Christina Byrne, an OCTA spokesperson.
“This week, the contractor is removing the temporary bridge supports used to form the new bridge,” Byrne said. “In addition, crews are installing barrier rail … and will be grinding the deck of the bridge.”
According to Byrne, the connector was reconstructed in order to “accommodate two additional lanes under the bridge on the I-405.”
But reconstruction of the Seventh Street connector is part of a larger $277 million West County Connectors project, partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a 2009 federal stimulus bill.
The project, while creating jobs as part of the stimulus bill, will improve traffic flow by adding carpool lanes in both directions between the I-405, I-605 and SR-22, as well as reconstructing three bridges, including the Seventh Street connector.
That project is set for completion in 2014.
Still, some residents of Garden Grove, Westminster, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and Rossmoor think the project has been a burden.
Students, in particular, have made complaints about the detours and delays.
“It’s been really backed up with traffic everywhere because of all the construction so it’s really hard to get places,” said Theresa Bica, a freshman communications studies major who frequently travels on freeways surrounding the project. “That makes it rough on gas too.”
Byrne said OCTA has had very few complaints because the transportation organization informed the public about the closure two years before construction began.