Countywide : Ways Sought to Avoid Freeway Project Delays

County transportation commissioners Monday demanded suggestions on how they can help prevent future delays in freeway construction like the one that will hold up the start of the Santa Ana Freeway widening for 18 months.

Thomas F. Riley, a county supervisor and member of the county Transportation Commission, said he was “greatly disturbed” to learn that “critical projects that I thought were on schedule have slipped so badly.

“To a degree we have lost our credibility in the eyes of the public in our ability to solve our transportation problems” because of the failure of other agencies to recognize delays that should have been easily predicted, Riley said at an OCTC meeting.

The commissioners ordered its staff to return in four weeks with suggestions on how the commission can keep a closer eye on future projects and pressure other jurisdictions and agencies like Caltrans to get construction started.

The commissioners acted after receiving a report saying that 13 of the 20 state highway projects in the county fell behind schedule in the past year, with the remaining seven still on target.

A major casualty was the Santa Ana Freeway widening between the Costa Mesa and Garden Grove freeways, which had been scheduled to start in July of 1989 but is now projected to begin in January of 1991.

One reason for the delay was the desire of the county Transit District to have special lanes for bus and car pool traffic on the freeway.

These county highway projects are between two and 24 months behind schedule:

Pacific Coast Highway widening from Beach Boulevard to Golden West Street: 4 months

Santa Ana Freeway widening, Costa Mesa Freeway to the Garden Grove Freeway: 18 months

Santa Ana Freeway/Jeffrey Road interchange: 2 months

Santa Ana Freeway/Harbor Boulevard-Ball Road interchange: 3 months

Costa Mesa Freeway/Coast Highway interchange: 9 months

Imperial Highway widening, Randolph Avenue to Berry Street: 3 months

Laguna Canyon Road widening, El Toro Road to Canyon Acres: 24 months

Pacific Coast Highway widening, Orange Avenue to Brookhurst Street: 6 months Pacific Coast Highway widening, Brookhurst Street to Beach Boulevard: 6 months Santa Ana Freeway widening, Garden Grove Freeway to Riverside Freeway: 12 months Santa Ana Freeway widening, Riverside Freeway to I-605: 12 months San Diego Freeway widening, first segment: 6 months San Diego Freeway widening, second segment: 3 months