Freeway Work Is Crucial

Much of the current decade has been taken up with some monumental road improvement projects in Orange County. The Orange County Transportation Authority now has before it some unfinished but crucial business concerning the future of the Garden Grove Freeway.

Long a pillar of the fabled Orange Crush interchange, this serviceable artery challenges the imaginations of road planners. It was considered to be in better shape than other roads when the county made its remarkable commitment in 1990 to pay for infrastructure improvements that would serve current and future demand.

Now that traffic has gotten worse on the Garden Grove Freeway, the importance of the overall road improvement effort is evident not just from county projects being done, but from what was left undone for another day.

While traffic has eased on the major north-south arteries of the Santa Ana Freeway, the Garden Grove east-west corridor has continued to be a growing focal point of congestion. The freeway was not in the dire shape that some other county freeways were in when Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, went before the voters. But it is now seen as a major trouble spot that, left unattended, can be even more of a headache in the future.

The Garden Grove Freeway comes into play for anybody trying to get around in much of the central and northern parts of the county and beyond. Sooner or later, it proves indispensable to motorists trying to navigate such destinations as Santa Ana, Orange, Garden Grove, Westminster, Seal Beach and Long Beach, and it affects the approaches to Los Alamitos, Cypress, Stanton and Anaheim, as well as Huntington Beach.

The road also serves those traveling to Pacific Coast Highway, the San Diego Freeway, Beach Boulevard, the Santa Ana and Orange freeways at the Orange Crush, the Costa Mesa Freeway and a host of major routes in the county including The City Drive, Harbor Boulevard and Glassell Street.

There are many employment centers along the way: St. Joseph’s Hospital, UCI Medical Center and a new development for the old City Shopping Center, as well as Edison International Field. Westminster recently opened a new Wal-Mart; the Cypress Business Park is nearby.

Further, bleak forecasts for millions of new residents in six counties from the Southern California Assn. of Governments are ominous. This corridor appears critically situated, and it is particularly ill-suited to handling new county residents and new Inland Empire commuters.

Paying for any improvements will be a challenge. If there are savings on Measure M projects, some of this could be allocated for the Garden Grove Freeway. The recent bankruptcy settlement with Merrill Lynch earmarked about $100 million to the Orange County Transportation Authority, with most headed for the continuing Santa Ana Freeway widening project. But if any of this can find its way to the Garden Grove Freeway, so much the better.

Recently, directors of the OCTA approved six options for doing something about the problems on the freeway, and they are to take the matter up again soon. Among the solutions being considered are the possibility of adding one lane in each direction, expanding bus service, implementing a rail system and building carpool lanes. There is also a proposal to build an adjacent road.

OCTA has properly been conducting meetings to inform the public about the project and get some feedback on proposals. As is often the case with potential road widenings, there has been concern about how change will affect adjacent property, and in particular, how much noise there will be. OCTA should continue to work closely with residents and Caltrans in implementing an improvement strategy.

OCTA will have to consider wisely the best options. Traffic is expected to only get worse on this, one of Orange County’s most congested roads. One OCTA staff memo warns that traffic on the road is likely to take 30% longer by 2020 if nothing is done.

It would make sense to select options that are both cost effective and compatible with the kinds of freeway improvements that have been made on other nearby major arteries. Whatever plans are selected, let an important old road acquire a new and improved face to serve the county.