Most of the homeowners only need to lend some land for the 405 widening, not give it up
Q. Honk: What’s happening on the 405 Freeway in the Westminster area where the widening is taking place? The temporary wall is right up to the homes. Have they lost their backyards permanently?
– Lisa Springer, Huntington Beach
A. For $1.9 billion, the motoring public is getting two lanes in each direction on the 405, the longest one heading both ways from the 605 Freeway in Seal Beach on Long Beach’s edge to the 73 in Costa Mesa.
That takes some space, but transportation officials are pretty much keeping the expansion within the land already reserved for the 405, which had some room to spare.
The massive project, set for completion in less than four years, requires the acquisition of parts of 287 properties and there is only one case where the entire piece of land is needed.
And the owner of that land, at Goldenwest Street and Bolsa Avenue in Westminster, wanted to sell it, said Megan Abba, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Transportation Authority. It used to be the home of a Big 5 Sporting Goods.
“Of the 288 impacted properties, 179 are residential,” she told Honk in an email. “Nearly all of the residential properties affected by the project only require a temporary construction easement to provide crews space to build the project.
“These areas will be returned to the property owner immediately upon completion of construction,” she said. “In areas where sound walls between backyards and the freeway have been taken down during construction, they will be replaced.
“In a few instances, OCTA permanently acquired small sliver portions from residential owners to accommodate the design of the project.”
Even when the land is lent to the effort for awhile, the owners are generally financially compensated.
Q. Hi Honk, I read your column a couple of weeks ago regarding the longevity of concrete roadways and how a portion of the I-10 Freeway in the Ontario area has lasted since the 1940s. Has the 10 Freeway been around that long? My Google search comes up with 1957.
– Marc Urias, Lake Forest
A. So did Honk’s.
So he gave a jingle to David Matza, the Caltrans spokesman who had provided that initial info.
Turns out that a section of what is now the 10, then called the Ontario-to-Colton Freeway, was planned and built in the 1940s.
“They didn’t build it in one fell swoop,” he said of the 10 Freeway.
In fact, two years ago, Caltrans officials, politicians and some from the concrete industry gathered in Ontario to celebrate that freeway stretch’s 70 years of service.
Honkin’ fact: San Bernardino police investigated 115 driving under the influence crashes in 2018. Those collisions left nine dead and 185 injured. According to that Police Department, those popped for a DUI, in addition to any jail time and/or suspension of the driver’s license, can expect to fork out $13,500 to cover fines, fees, classes and other bills.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.