Transportation officials from OCTA and Caltrans joined with partners from the federal, state and local levels on Feb. 12 to dedicate the West County Connectors project, which directly connects the carpool lanes among the I-405, I-605, and SR-22 freeways and adds six miles of carpool lane.
OCTA officials who spoke at the ceremony included Chair Jeff Lalloway, directors Michelle Steel, Gary Miller, and CEO Darrell Johnson. Other speakers included David S. Kim, associate administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty, and Lucy Dunn, incoming chair of the California Transportation Commission. Also in attendance were OCTA Director Jim Katapodis and former OCTA Director John Moorlach.
The four-year, $297 million West County Connectors project runs through the cities of Garden Grove, Westminster, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Long Beach and the community of Rossmoor. By eliminating the need for drivers to merge and weave to get from one carpool lane to the next as they change freeways, West County Connectors increases safety and reduces congestion along the heaviest stretch of freeway in the nation. Approximately 370,000 vehicles travel this section of freeway every day.
The project was paid for by Measure M, Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, with strong funding support from the state and federal government.
