Plan for longer 405 Freeway commutes as lanes close for final construction

Orange County Transportation Authority leaders are warning of longer commutes on the 405 Freeway over the next few weeks as the agency shuts down carpool lanes and connectors in the run up to completing the massive widening project on Dec. 1.

The northbound 405 carpool lanes at the 73 closed Wednesday night. The carpool lanes in both directions along the 405 – between the northern county line and the 73 – will close at night on Nov. 1, including the connector lanes between the 22 Freeway and the 405 and between the 605 and 405. When the lanes reopen in a month the $2.16 billion project that started in 2018 will be completed.

“There should be some plans for a longer commutes,” OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson said. “Maybe leave a little bit early, look ahead at traffic on all the (apps), whether it’s Waze or Apple Maps, but at the same time also recognize there will be some changes in the freeway system coming forward. A little bit of extra time now should help you later after Dec. 1.”

The lanes are closing to do final testing of the new tolling equipment, and will reopen as express lanes.  All travelers will need a FasTrak transponder to use the new 405 Express Lanes.

FasTrak Flex transponders, where you set the number of passengers in the car from 1 to 3+, will be needed to take advantage of the free tolls for carpoolers.

In Santa Ana, a 24/7 staffed traffic operations center will monitor the freeway’s express lanes. The room has large video boards with real-time traffic data and toll pricing. Workers there will have access to 50 cameras filming the freeway.

Johnson said if there’s an accident or some other incident on the express lanes, depending on the severity, the center would be able to close the lanes to new traffic. And if there was a significant incident on the freeway’s general lanes, they could also move traffic to the express lanes and not charge people.

The 405’s new express lanes are modeled after the 91 Express Lanes. There will also be tow trucks dedicated to servicing the 405 in Orange County.

The 16-mile expansion of the 405 is the largest single freeway investment in the county’s history, Johnson said.

The project also two new general lanes and two express lanes (on top of the converted carpool lanes), one for each direction. The 405 is one of the most congested freeways in the county, carrying more than 300,000 vehicle trips daily in parts, according to OCTA.

Source: Orange County Register