Bridge Is Lined Up, Ready to Go

Nine months after workers walled off and demolished the Red Hill Avenue bridge in Costa Mesa to make way for a massive freeway connector, the popular but somewhat forgotten span will reopen tonight--wider, smoother and much, much taller.

To the relief of more than 25,000 daily commuters and hundreds of Irvine and Costa Mesa business owners, Caltrans said the bridge over the San Diego Freeway was opening just in time for the holiday traffic crush. No more would thousands of confused motorists chase detour signs through Irvine and Santa Ana.

“It’s about time,” snapped Robert J. Rosener, as he gassed up his car at a filling station just blocks from the bridge Tuesday. “I’m a salesman and this is my territory. It’s been a real pain in the neck with all these detours.”

The bridge, which lies in the flight path of John Wayne Airport just east of bustling South Coast Plaza, was raised an average of 18 feet over its previous height. It was hoisted to make room for a $150-million network of elevated carpool lanes that will link the San Diego and Costa Mesa freeways. The carpool project, expected to be completed in another year and a half, is intended to reduce the lane-changing scramble of drivers trying to shift from carpool lanes to freeway onramps. Since Red Hill connects a network of bustling business parks in Costa Mesa and Irvine, as well as a host of gas stations and restaurants that depend on their patronage for survival, many felt the impact of the road’s lengthy closure.

“It nearly killed us,” lamented Ahmed Elmalki, manager of a convenience store at the corner of Red Hill and Bristol Street. “We lost about 30% or 40% of our business. All of a sudden people just stopped coming. We’re hoping they come back now.”

The bridge is considered a critical arterial route because it runs parallel to the Costa Mesa Freeway, allowing motorists to bypass construction, accidents or traffic jams.

Officials celebrated the planned reopening of the bridge Tuesday, letting dozens of local workers walk the span and inspect its new enlarged sidewalks and designated bicycle lanes. The event was marred only by a minor accident involving a string of bicyclists who attempted to ride through a banner as part of the ceremony. Instead of bursting through the tape, the riders became entangled, lost balance and clattered to the freshly laid pavement. There were no serious injuries.

During construction, commuters flooded such alternate routes as MacArthur Boulevard, Bristol Street and Paularino Avenue, adding to rush-hour delays. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman at John Wayne Airport said officials there were relieved that the bridge was opening on what is traditionally one of the busiest travel days of the year.

The bridge reconstruction, which took place in full view of thousands of San Diego Freeway commuters, cost roughly $5.5 million. Initially, engineers considered building the connector ramp over the bridge, but soon discovered that building a ramp higher than the bridge would be a problem.

“The connector would have been so tall that it would have conflicted with the approach to the airport,” explained Steve Wylie, interim director of the Orange County Transportation Authority.

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Back in Business

Opening today after nine months of construction, the Red Hill Avenue bridge was torn down and rebuilt 18 feet higher to allow room for a new carpool flyover connector between the San Diego and Costa Mesa freeways.

Source: Hassan Juybari, Caltrans engineer

Graphics reporting by BRADY MacDONALD / Los Angeles Times