Last week, demolition of the McFadden Avenue bridge in Huntington Beach began, making way for 16 miles of improvements along the I-405 between SR-73 and I-605. The bridge is the first of more than 18 to be rebuilt, widened or replaced as part of the project.
The $1.9 billion I-405 Improvement Project is adding one regular lane in each direction from Euclid Street to I-605 and a second lane in each direction in the freeway median that will combine with the existing carpool lanes to form the 405 Express Lanes. The project will speed up travel times on I-405 between Costa Mesa and the Los Angeles County line, an area traveled by more than 370,000 vehicles a day
During the weekend of Aug. 18-19, the freeway was closed in the demolition area for safety. The freeway will be closed again for the second night of major demolition on Aug. 25-26. Nighttime lane closures on I-405 are also expected during the weeks of Aug. 20 and Aug. 27 for additional demolition activities, but those will not require the freeway to be fully closed.
During the period leading up to the demolition and closure, OCTA reached out to the public by phone, email, social media, and flyers to let residents, local government, emergency service providers, businesses and other stakeholders know about the upcoming events. Communications included information about detours and offered sources for more information, including the project website and social media locations.
This 16-mile segment of I-405 is one of the most heavily traveled stretches of highway in the nation, and both the regular lanes and carpool lanes are heavily congested during rush hour and on weekends. The project is critical to accommodate expected employment, population and housing growth throughout the region.
It currently takes drivers using regular lanes about an hour to travel this section of freeway during rush hour, and without the project, commute times are projected to double in the next 20 years. Once the project is finished in 2023, it is expected to take about 30 minutes to drive the 16 miles during rush hour in the regular lanes and about 15 minutes in the 405 Express Lanes.
Sign up for construction alerts via email, automated call and text messages at the project website. For the latest information on construction activities, closures and detours, visit our Interactive Map at www.octa.net/405map. We’ve partnered with Waze to provide the same information through their navigation app.
For more information about the project, contact OCTA at 888-400-8994 or at 405project@octa.net.
