Detours will be in place while the bridge is closed to all traffic for about a year
ORANGE – The McFadden Avenue bridge over I-405 in Huntington Beach and Westminster is scheduled to close to all vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 7, for approximately 12 months so it can be reconstructed as part of the I-405 Improvement Project.
The McFadden Avenue bridge is the first of more than 18 bridges to be built, widened or replaced as part of the project, which will speed up travel times on I-405 between Costa Mesa and the Los Angeles County line, an area traveled by more than 370,000 vehicles a day.
Drivers should use the following detours while the bridge is closed:
- Eastbound route 1: Eastbound McFadden Avenue to northbound Goldenwest Street to eastbound Bolsa Avenue to southbound Beach Boulevard.
- Eastbound route 2: Eastbound McFadden Avenue to southbound Goldenwest Street to eastbound Edinger Avenue to northbound Beach Boulevard.
- Westbound route 1: Westbound McFadden Avenue to northbound Beach Boulevard to westbound Bolsa Avenue to southbound Goldenwest Street.
- Westbound route 2: Westbound McFadden Avenue to southbound Beach Boulevard to westbound Edinger Avenue to northbound Goldenwest Street.
The bridge closure is in preparation for its demolition, which is expected to begin as early as Saturday, Aug. 18. Demolition work is anticipated to occur over multiple nights.
During demolition, both directions of I-405 will be closed overnight from approximately 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. between Beach Boulevard and Bolsa Avenue. Drivers will be routed off the freeway and detoured to the next ramp. The closure is necessary to safely demolish the freeway overcrossing.
Other current work on the project includes installing concrete barrier to protect work areas, restriping lanes, and trimming trees and vegetation. There are also intermittent overnight closures on freeway lanes, ramps and bridges. Up-to-date closure and construction information is available on the project’s interactive map at www.octa.net/405map.
The $1.9 billion I-405 Improvement Project will add one regular lane in each direction between SR-73 and I-605 and a second lane in each direction in the center of the freeway that will combine with the existing carpool lanes to form the 405 Express Lanes.
This 16-mile segment of I-405 is one of the most heavily traveled stretches of highway in the nation, and both the regular lanes and carpool lanes are heavily congested during rush hour and on weekends. The project is critical to accommodate expected employment, population and housing growth throughout the region.
It currently takes drivers about an hour to travel this section of freeway during rush hour and without the project, the commute is projected to double in the next 20 years. Once the project is finished in 2023, it is expected to take about 30 minutes to drive the 16 miles during rush hour in the regular lanes and about 15 minutes in the 405 Express Lanes.
People are encouraged to visit the project website at www.octa.net/405improvement to sign up for construction alerts via automated call, text message or email.
