Weekly Update 021113

7/30/2019 Weekly Update 021113

1/8

Orange County Projects Reach Major Milestones

with Groundbreaking and Completion Events Next Week

Major transportation enhancement projects are set to break ground as OCTA and Caltrans also

commemorate the completion of a project milestone next week.

Caltrans will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the San Diego Freeway (I-5) / Ortega Highway

Interchange Improvement Project on Wednesday, Feb. 20, marking the beginning of the $86-

million, two-year project that will reconstruct Ortega Highw ay at the I-5 in San Juan Capistrano.

The same day, the city of Costa Mesa is holding a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Fairview ParkWetla nds and Riparian Habitat Project in Costa Mesa.

OCTA has contributed $2 million of Measure M2 freeway environmental mitigation program funds

for this project, Directors Pat Bates and John Moorlach will be speaking at the ceremony.

OCTA and Caltrans also will be hosting an event to celebrate the completion of the Riverside

Freeway (SR-91) Westbound and Eastbound Lane Widening project on Thursday, Feb. 21.

The completion of this project marks the addition of a six-mile lane in each direction of the SR-91

and is the second in a series of improvement projects on this freeway.

Feb. 11, 2013

OCTA Celebrates with 100,000 for Lunar New Year

Collaborative Shifts into High Gear with Bike Talk

South O.C. Projects Building Momentum

Crews wrap up work on the Riverside Freeway (SR-91) lane widening project, reaching a milestone in the series of freeway

improvement projects that add a new six-mile lane in each direction o f the SR-91 between the Costa Mesa Freeway (SR-55)

and the Eastern Toll Road (SR-241).
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2/8

Transportation Becomes Focus of Anaheim's Vision

OCTA outreach staff participated in

Ana heims State of the City event last

Monday to share information about the

Orange Freeway (SR-57), the R iverside

Freeway (SR-91), O.C. Bridges and

other construction projects.

Anah eim Mayor T om Tait addr essed

more than 800 people at the City

National Grove of Anaheim to highlightthe citys strong economy and his goals

for the upcoming year.

Tait also provided an update of OCTA

projects that affect Anaheim and the

role these projects play in improving

the quality of life for Orange County

residents.

Less time on the road means more time with family and neighbors, Tait said, explaining that the

freeway widening projects are on track to reduce traffic and improve mobility for drivers.

Tait highlighted how commuters soon will be enjoying new lanes on the SR-91 in East Anaheim when

they officially open later this month as well as the upcoming additional 8-mile lane on the SR-5 7

project, which is on track to be completed by the end of 2014.

OCTA Joins 100,000 People at Tet Festival

To Celebrate Lunar New Year of the Snake

More than 100,000 people gathered from Friday to Sunday to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the

Tet Festival in Garden Grove Park.

Many families utilized the OCTA bus that transported them to the event site transformed by

thousands of university students into a Vietnamese cultural heritage center with ancient temples,

iconic symbols of the former capital of Saigon, traditional outdoor markets and altars with exotic

tropical fruits, sticky rice cakes and other offerings for the Tet holiday.

With 200,000 people of Vie tnamese

descent, Orange County boasts thelargest Vietnamese population outside

of Asia.

OCTA partnered with the Tet Festival to

provide participants who showed their

bus pass to e njoy the fest ivit ies for $1, a

$4 discount.

As part of the outreach team fo r the SR-57 project, OCTA Community

Relations Specialist Ryan Romeos provides information about the freeway

widening project at Anaheim's State of the City event that highlighted OCTA

projects in the area.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez welcomes human rights activist Quan Quoc Nguyen, an American citizen, whowas reunited with his family just in time for the Tet holiday. OCTA Director Matthew Harper dons a hat as he enjoys

the colorful festivities under the bright sky.
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OCTA representatives also welcomed

festival-goers at a booth near the

entrance, wishing them health,

happiness and prosperity for the new

year of the snake.

The annual festival draws visitors

throughout the U.S. and as far away as

Europe, Australia and Asia, making it

the largest event celebrating the Lunar New Year outside of Vietnam.

Participants experienced traditional entertainment, a lion dance, a massive firecracker display,

Asia n food and a va riet y of Orange County v endo rs a nd organiz atio ns with proce eds rein vest ed t o

sponsor cultural and educational programs within the community, said Tet Chair of the Union ofVie tnam ese Stu dent Asso cia tion s Bil ly L.

We were thri lled to work with the Oran ge C ount y Transportatio n Author ity this ye ar to re ward

OCTA riders, said Le, who wore a traditional red Vietnamese ao dai and headdress to represent

fortune and prosperity. Our partnership helped reduce traffic and went a long way to help promote

public transportation.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, OCTA Director and Garden Grove City Councilman Steve Jones,

OCTA Director and Huntington Beach City Councilman Matthew Harper joined other dignitaries for a

special ceremony Saturday morning to commemorate the holiday and honor those who sacrificed

for the nations freedoms.

The celebration for the Lunar New Year continues Saturday, Feb. 16. OCTA is offering the chance to

win 50 free Metrolink round-trip tickets to Golden Dragon parad e in Los Angeles as well as other

prizes by spinning a prize wheel at the Irvine Metrolink station, 15215 Barranca Parkway in I rvine.

The event begins at 8 a.m. with a colorful lion dance, other entertainment and free pastries with

refreshments before participants board the 9 a.m. train to continue the celebration in Chinatown in

downtown L.A.

Vis itwww.octa. net/l una r20 13 for details.

Bao Mai of Garden Grove leads a traditional procession to mark the

beginning of the celebration of the Lunar New Year at the Tet Festival

at Garden Grove Park where participants enjoyed the sights, sounds and

scents of Vietnam.

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OCTA joined in celebrating one of the world's largest Tet celebrations with more than 100,000 people

including community leaders and members to commemorate the start of the Lunar New Year.

Visit OCTA's YouTube page for more transportation videos.
http://www.octa.net/Metrolink/Schedules/Lunar-New-Year/http://www.octa.net/lunar2013http://www.youtube.com/gooctahttp://www.octa.net/WCCdetourmap


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http://www.octa.net/Metrolink/Schedules/Lunar-New-Year/


5/8

Talks and Tour Shift Bikeway Collaborative into High Gear

To help make Orange County a more bicycle-

friendly place, OCTA hosted a bike tour and

meeting at Huntington Beach last Tuesday to

discuss the countys bicycle infrastructure.

OCTAs project development team met to begin

identifying regional bikeway corridors for the

Districts 1 and 2 Bikeway Collaborative, a

planning effort that will bring local jurisdictions

together to develop a bikeways strategy for

more than a dozen Orange County cities in the

first and second districts.

The tour was a very insightful exercise for the

project team, OCTA Transportation Analyst

Carolyn Mamaradlo said. Touring Huntington

Beach really demonstrated the great potential

for biking and how to design bikeways for

var ious user gro ups.

The project development team, composed ofPlanning and Public Works staff from 14 local jurisdictions, will identify regional bikeway corridors

that connect to major activity centers such as major employment areas, transportation centers,

colleges and universities.

Once selected, these bikeway corridors will be the foundation for design recommendations to help

local jurisdictions implement bicycle-friendly infrastructure.

OCTA received approximately $700,000 from the Orange County Council of Governments to

OCTA's project development team takes a tour through

Huntington Beach by bike, viewing first-hand the potential for

bikeway corridors in the area and in other cities in the First

and Second districts.
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conduct regional bikeways planning for each of the supervisorial districts in Orange County.

The Districts 1 and 2 Bikeway Collaborative is expected to be complete by summer 2014.

Together, the First and Second districts encompass portions of the cities of Buena Park, Costa Mesa,

Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport

Beach, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton and Westminster.

I-5 Outreach Team Shares Project

Updates with South County Community

The San Diego Freeway (I-5)

project team continues to be active

in the South County community as

the freeway improvement project

makes way to improve mobility for

motorists and commuters in the

bus y r egi on.

OCTA staff presented information

to the Laguna Niguel City Council

last Tuesday about the ongoing

Corona Del Mar Freeway (SR-73) to

El Toro Road project that will

provide freeway improvements to

improve traffic flow and mobilityand reduce congestion throughout

the project area.

App roxim ate ly 358 ,000 veh icles tra vel the I-5 between El To ro Road and the SR-73 dai ly and

planners anticipate traffic volumes will increase 25 percent by 2045, raising the total to 448,000

vehicl es per day .

Project alternatives are still being studied, but highlights include the extension of the second

carpool lane to Alicia Parkway and the possible addition of one or two general purpose lanes as well

as the reconstruction of Avery Parkway and La Paz Road interchanges. Construction is expected to

begin i n 2018.

The outreach team continued sharing information at the San Juan Capistrano farmers market last

Wedn esday, a weekly event in d ownt own San Juan Capistrano t hat draws hundreds of residents.

Dozens of participants visited the OCTA booth where the project team shared information on the I-5

South County Improvement Project from Avenida Pico to San Juan Creek Road that is set to break

ground later this year.

The project will complete a carpool lane in both directions in between San Juan Capistrano to San

Clemente as well as make major improvements to the Avenida Pico interchange.

Yorba Linda City Council Learns About Project Milestones

As proj ect s in the area move

forward toward majormilestones, OCTAs Capital

Programs team updated the

Yorb a Linda City Coun cil on

ongoing activity in north and

northeast Orange County.

Residents joined city staff and

council members at the

presentation last Tuesday.

OCTAs team shared with city

leaders that the project to add

lanes to the Riverside Freeway

(SR-91) is on track for

completion later this month.

Completing this project marks a

major milestone of adding a six-

mile land in each direction of SR-91 in Orange County.

The team also provided an overview of the northbound widening project for the Orange Freeway

(SR-57) that is adding a new 8-mile lane from Katella Avenue in Anaheim to Lambert Road in Brea.

OCTA Project Engineer Hamid Torkamanha shares the different project

alternatives that are under consideration for the Corona Del Mar Freeway (SR-73)

to El Toro Road project with the Laguna Niguel City Council.

Yorba Linda City Council members listen in to OCTA Program Manager Pradeep

Gunaratne's presentation about ongoing activity for the SR-91, SR-57 and O.C.

Bridges projects in north and northeast Orange County.
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OCTA staff explained that reconstruction of the northbound Imperial Highway ramp would likely

start later this spring or summer and that OCTAs outreach team will be working to keep the

community informed about the activity.

Finally, the team wrapped up the presentation with information about activity on the O.C. Bridges

projects that is delivering seven grade separations along the Orangethorpe / BNSF railroad corridor.

Construction will begin in 2013.

Mayor Tom Lindsey, along with Mayor Pro Tem Craig Young and fellow councilmembers Anderson,

Hernandez and Schwing, thanked OCTA for the project report and forecast.

For more information on these projects, please contact Program Manager Pradeep Gunaratne at

(714) 560-5648 or by email at [email protected].

OCTA Helps Seniors Get Onboard with Transit

OCTA Senior Customer Relations Representative Nicci La Piana will present information on how to

ride the bus at two different locations next week.

La Piana will host a senior presentation at the Linbrook Court Senior Apartments from 11 to 11:30

a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 2240 W. Lincoln in Anaheim.

La Piana will provide additional information at the Housing and Transportation Committee of Orange

County from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 1300 S. Grand Ave. in Santa Ana.

Jan. 30 & Jan. 31 The San Clemente Times and Orange County Register posted articles about the I-

5 Widening Project, including the expansion at Avenida Pico interchange scheduled to begin

construction in 2014.

Jan. 31 The Orange County Register penned an announcement about the Metrolink Ducks Express

providing roundtrip, weeknight train service to Anaheim Ducks games for $7, with special discountsfor seniors and youths.

Jan. 31 & Feb. 6 The Mission Viejo Life Blog and Orange County Register published articles about

OCTA providing the city a grant for senior transportation programs.

Jan. 31 & Feb. 4 The Orange County Register and The Daily Titan published an update about

planned construction in Fullerton to separate train and vehicle traffic at State College Boulevard and

Raymond Avenue by building underpasses. The project is set to begin in 2014.

Feb. 1 to Feb. 6 The Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch, Belmont Shore-Naples Patch and Orange

County Register posted construction closures for portions of the West County Connectors project.

The OC Breeze and Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch announced OCTAs launch of real-time project

closure and detour information using Google Maps.

Feb. 3 & Feb. 5 The Los Alamitos-Seal Beach Patch and Cerritos-Artesia Patch wrote about the on-

going investigation into the Jan. 29 incident when a construction crane fell and temporarily blocked

the road from the eastbound Garden Grove (SR-22) Freeway to the northbound San Gabriel River (I-

605) Freeway.

Feb. 4 & Feb. 5 The Orange County Register,

Temecula Patch, San Juan Capistrano Patch and

South West Riverside News Network wro te arti cle s

about the Feb. 19 scheduled start of construction

for the $8 6-million I-5 Ortega Highway Interchange

Improvement project.

Feb. 5 & Feb. 6 The Los Angeles Times, Daily Pilot,

OC Breeze, Orange County Register and Laguna

Beach Independent reported on the Feb. 10 OCTA

bus fare increase , the fi rst rise since 2009, which

was implemented to maintain the farebox recovery

ratio required for state funding.

Feb. 5 The Orange County Register published a

progress report on the Orange Freeway (SR-57)
http://www.ocregister.com/news/transportation-207309-ocprint-project-authority.htmlhttp://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/2013/02/06/community-datebook-2813/http://www.ocregister.com/news/fares-494833-octa-bus.htmlhttp://www.oc-breeze.com/2013/02/05/27863_octa-fare-changes-take-effect-sunday-feb-10/http://www.dailypilot.com/ocnow/tn-dpt-octa-to-increase-fares-starting-sunday-20130205,0,3337705.storyhttp://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/octa-fare-increases-to-go-into-effect-sunday.htmlhttp://www.swrnn.com/2013/02/05/construction-on-ortega-highway-slated-for-mid-feb/http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com/articles/city-seeks-funds-for-ortega-wideninghttp://temecula.patch.com/articles/caltrans-brings-86-million-ortega-highway-project-details-to-southwest-riverside-county-commutershttp://www.ocregister.com/news/juan-479078-san-capistrano.htmlhttp://www.octa.net/WCCdetourmaphttp://cerritos.patch.com/articles/long-beach-cerritos-2-2-6-0-5-freeway-interchange-crane-mishap-probedhttp://losalamitos.patch.com/articles/crane-mishap-on-22605-freeway-interchange-under-investigationhttps://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205019920822877204952.0004d40fa081ecaaba1b1&msa=0http://losalamitos.patch.com/articles/octa-unveils-real-time-map-of-local-freeway-closureshttp://www.oc-breeze.com/2013/02/05/27834_west-orange-county-connectors-project-nighttime-closures-for-feb-4-to-feb-8/http://www.ocregister.com/news/right-414238-street-road.htmlhttp://belmontshore.patch.com/articles/major-closures-heading-to-405-605-22-freeways-tonighthttp://losalamitos.patch.com/articles/major-closures-heading-to-405-605-22-freeways-tonighthttp://www.dailytitan.com/2013/02/construction/http://epaper.ocregister.com/Olive/ODE/OCWFullertonNewsTribune/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=T0NXRnVsbGVydG9uTmV3c1RyaWJ1bmUvMjAxMy8wMS8zMQ..&pageno=MQ..&entity=QXIwMDEwNg..&view=ZW50aXR5http://www.ocregister.com/news/program-494812-transportation-senior.htmlhttp://missionviejolife.org/2013/01/31/city-will-receive-100000-in-grant-funds-to-benefit-senior-transportation-programs/http://epaper.ocregister.com/Olive/ODE/OCWAnaheimBulletin/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=T0NXQW5haGVpbUJ1bGxldGluLzIwMTMvMDEvMzE.&pageno=NQ..&entity=QXIwMDUwMw..&view=ZW50aXR5http://www.ocregister.com/news/pico-414056-lanes-san.htmlhttp://www.sanclementetimes.com/blog/2013/01/30/public-gets-update-on-i-5-work/http://www.octa.net/weeklyupdate/[email protected]


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Wide ning project, which i s moving ahea d on

schedule and approximately 55 percent complete.

Feb. 6 The Orange County Register and San Juan

Capistrano Patch penned articles about OCTA

expanding its public outreach contract in San Juan Capistrano in an effort to mitigate construction

impacts for the I-5 Ortega Highway Interchange Improvement project, scheduled to begin later this

month.

Feb. 6 UT San Diego wrote an announcement about Caltrans I-5 Ortega Highway Interchange

Improvement project public information meeting scheduled for Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Animal

Friends of the Valleys Shelter in Wildomar.

Feb. 4 to Feb. 8 Bruce Gadbois, 2013 Mass Transit and Passenger Rail Security and Emergency

Management Roundtable, Washington, D.C.

The Orange County Register, Temecula Patch, San Juan

Capistrano Patch and South West Riverside News Network

write about the Feb. 19 scheduled start of construction for the

I-5 Ortega Highway Interchange Improvement project.

For the latest media news, followJoel Zlotnik, media relations manager, on Twitter.

For the latest in transportation issues and programs in Southern California,

followOCTA on Twitter.

Become a fan ofOCTA on Facebookto keep connected and learn more about how

OCTA is keeping Orange County moving.

Stay updated on transportation promotions, events and more on OCTA's YouTube

channel.
http://www.twitter.com/OCTAnewshttp://www.youtube.com/gooctahttp://www.youtube.com/gooctahttp://www.youtube.com/gooctahttp://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Orange-CA/OCTA/32401940026http://www.facebook.com/goOCTAhttp://twitter.com/goOCTAhttp://www.twitter.com/TedNguyenhttp://www.twitter.com/OCTAnewshttp://www.twitter.com/OCTAnewshttp://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/06/public-meeting-ortega-highway/http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com/articles/money-to-help-businesses-proves-controversialhttp://www.ocregister.com/news/city-494744-san-highway.htmlhttp://www.octa.net/WCCdetourmap

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Weekly Update 021113