City traffic relief on way

Costa Mesa has started nearly $20 million in transportation projects, improving freeway access and relieving congestion in hot spots throughout the city, officials said.

In addition to expanding jam-packed Newport Boulevard by a single lane this fall, city workers have already begun to expand the Fairview Road bridge over I-405, as well as adding a lane on Harbor Boulevard underneath the highway.

A project on the Susan Street exit of the 405, started in November, is also nearly completed.

Associate Engineer Raja Sethuraman said the efforts would provide much-needed relief to local commuters.

“[On Harbor Boulevard] we’ll be adding a lane behind the bridge columns — we’re taking away the slope — and putting a new lane behind them,” he said. “That will be a new on-bound lane, so there will be four continuous lanes on Harbor going northbound.”

The Fairview Road expansion will also include widening the entrance to the 73 Toll Road and SR-55 to three lanes, he said.

In addition to broadening city streets, projects are also underway to improve the quality of high-traffic roads that may face wear and tear as the year continues, such as Sunflower Avenue and several streets east of Fairview Road.

“Some of these streets are really bad, and you’ll see that construction begin in May,” he said. “Some of them are started already.”

Sethuraman added that the work will be conducted at night and during off-peak traffic seasons, to avoid adversely affecting local residents and businesses in the surrounding areas.

The city is also in the process of examining long-term solutions to traffic on SR-55/Newport Boulevard in downtown Costa Mesa with help from the Orange County Transportation Authority and Newport Beach, Transportation Manager Peter Naghavi said.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at [email protected].