Orange County Branch Newsletter

February 2014

Transportation Technical Group

Caltrans I-5 South Corridor Improvement Projects

ASCE Orange County's Transportation Technical Group (TTG) hosted its first program of 2014 at UCI on Tuesday, January 14th with a presentation by Diaa Yassin (Caltrans District 7 Project Manager) with support from Vanessa Barrientos (Hill International, Community Outreach Consultant) and Maria Raptis (Caltrans District 7 Public Information Officer) on the Caltrans Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) South Corridor Improvement Projects.

Caltrans has worked closely with the I-5 Consortium Cities Joint Powers Authority (I-5 JPA) for many years to plan and execute the I-5 South Corridor Projects and to collaborate as partners with five local communities of Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs, La Mirada, Downey and Cerritos.

The I-5 South Corridor Improvement Projects will widen the freeway from the existing six to eight general purpose lanes to 10 lanes --- four lanes, plus one HOV lane in each direction to match up with the number of lanes at the LA/Orange County line, thereby reducing bottleneck congestion. Once completed, these improvements will relieve current and future congestion, improve traffic flow and air quality, reduce freeway noise and encourage ridesharing. Motorists will experience an easier, smoother and less congested transition at the Los Angeles County/Orange County line.

The I-5 South Corridor Improvement Projects are identified by their locations at Carmenita Road, Alondra Boulevard, Imperial Highway/Pioneer Boulevard, Rosecrans/Bloomfield Avenues, Valley View Avenue, and Florence Avenue. The corridor improvements include constructing a concrete median barrier, adding center medians and shoulders, widening existing outer shoulders and many other safety features. Interchanges, bridges, ramps, a pedestrian overcrossing, soundwalls and adjacent frontage roads will be constructed, reconstructed or modified. A total of 22 structures will be reconstructed, relocated or upgraded.

Like many companies today marketing "bundled" products by offering several products as one combined product, Caltrans District 7 has strategized bundling six freeway improvement projects as one 6.7 mile-long Corridor Project. Or is it the other way around....one project de-bundled into six segments?

Caltrans and its regional transportation partners, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), are investing $1.8 billion in the seven mile-long corridor funded through a combination of federal, state and local resources. This segment of Interstate 5 has not seen any major improvements since it was first constructed in the mid-1950's.

The January meeting was the first for the 2014 Board of Directors introducing Julia Wu, PE as President; Ted Rigoni, PE, PMP as Vice President; Adrian Anderson, PE as Treasurer; Matt Dennerline, PE, GE as Secretary; and Shafi Sharifan, PE returning as Past President. The TTG is actively looking for new board members and members-at-large. Email ttgboard@asceoc.org for more information.