LA MIRADA – The end is in sight for the 5 Freeway widening project that began in 2011,
Federal, state and local officials came together Wednesday to celebrate the beginning of the final phase – the Valley View Avenue interchange project – of the $1.9 billion plan to add a regular lane and a carpool lane to the freeway from the Orange County border to the 605 Freeway
It’s been a long time coming, said Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe about the project
“We go through that bumpy ride on the 5 with all of the trucks coming out from the ports and additional traffic,” Knabe said.
“This is going to be great to get some smooth-flowing traffic and help people get back to work every day,” he said. “These type of road projects may not generate the attention that subways and tunnels do but they make a huge difference in people’s lives.”
In addition to the widening of the freeway, this $631 million phase will include reconstruction of the 60-year-old Valley View Avenue bridge, widening it from four to six lanes, adding an underpass for the railroad just to the south of the street and realignment of frontage roads.
The final phase is expected to take 4 1/2 years to be completed, said John Wang, I-5 construction manager for Caltrans.
Work on relocation of a Chevron pipeline and utility lines already has begun, Wang said.
During the project, the bridge will be reduced from two lanes on each side to one. That work is expected to begin in December, said Wang.
Four of the other five segments are nearly done. However, the Florence Avenue area, which also has a bridge that will be reduced temporarily from two lanes on each side to one, has much more work to go, he said
Work on the bridge is expected to begin in January or February.
Wang said Caltrans also will look at ways to use some of the space already there to add a fourth lane. The carpool lane won’t open until the entire project is complete, he said.
The ground breaking ceremonies were held in the parking lot of a vacant furniture store near the freeway.
La Mirada Mayor Steve De Ruse jokingly called the project “a bittersweet moment” for his city.
“The city will lose millions of dollars in free advertising,” De Ruse said. “Every morning and after you hear that the I-5 Freeway is backed up at Valley View in La Mirada.”
