e-Mail

Print

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CALIF. — Caltrans and local and regional transportation agencies announced construction will begin in July on a $380 million project that will significantly improve the flow of traffic through the busy Carmenita Road interchange and also reduce congestion on the Golden Gate Freeway (Interstate 5). Financing for the project is provided by federal, state, and local funding, including $15 million from Proposition 1B, a 2006 voter-approved transportation bond.

The Golden State Freeway Carmenita Road Interchange Project will be the first of six projects totaling more than $1 billion to begin construction on I-5 from the Orange County line to the San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605). The project will replace the existing two-lane interchange with a 10-lane interchange — nearly five times its current size — which will improve traffic circulation through the interchange, accommodate future projected traffic demands, and enhance safety. A one-mile section of I-5 also will be widened from four lanes to six lanes by adding one carpool lane and one regular traffic lane in each direction from Alondra Boulevard to Shoemaker Avenue. On average, more than 170,000 vehicles travel this section of freeway daily. The project is expected to be completed by 2015.

The project’s local and regional funding partners include the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority, the I-5 Consortium Joint Powers Authority, and the Gateway Cities Council of Governments. The Federal Highway Administration also contributed funding.