Caltrans and Metro hosted one of those special photo-op groundbreakings yesterday in Santa Fe Springs to mark the beginning of construction on the I-5 Widening and Alondra Boulevard Bridge Project--a $110 million project that will "widen nearly one mile of I-5 from North Fork Coyote Creek to Marquardt Avenue in Santa Fe Springs by adding a carpool and regular lane in each direction," according to the OC Register. The Alondra project is the second segment of the I-5 South Corridor Improvement Project, a massive freeway-widening project to rival the more publicized work of widening the 405. The LA County portion of the 5 South corridor has had no significant improvements since it was constructed in the 1950s, making the county line a notorious choke point on the path between LA and Orange counties. Given that 178,000 motorists travel the corridor everyday, we're sure it's inspired more than one commuter to ponder the literalness of the term "Orange Curtain" over the years. The whole project, which began with the Carmenita Road segment in the fall of last year, will build 14 miles of carpool lanes (seven in each direction) between the Los Angeles/Orange County line and the 605. The total cost of the project is expected to reach $1 billion, and it should be complete by fall 2016.
· Widening of 5 freeway in L.A. continues [OC Register]
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