CA:57-South Revived by Interwest

“We are moderately optimistic. Our initial analysis is that it is viable and that there’s a reasonable chance of going forward, but we’ll have a series of studies complete by September and then we’ll be in a position to make a go/no-go decision,” Farris told us.

Grant Holland VP for Finance says the project has “tremendous underlying logic” because it is a mising link in the Orange Co freeway grid, and “the only question I whether it is financable.”

Involved is an extension of the existing CA-57 or Orange Freeway south of its present terminus of the “Orange Crush” a complex 5-leg interchange with I-5 and CA-22, plus local connectors in the Anaheim/Garden Grove area. The extension would follow the concrete flood channel of the Santa Ana river 11km (7mi) south to I-405, the San Diego Fwy with connections to it both directions, and also to CA-73 and the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road. Direct connections to the CA-73 would require another 4km (2.5mi) elevated highway alongside or over the I-405 to the CA-73 split to allow traffic to get to the 73 without adding to the load on I-405’s lanes. There would be two simple diamond interchanges at First St and Warner Av along the floodway mid-section.

Farris says the project is 18km (11mi) of 2x2-lane elevated roadway for cars only. 2.4m (8') sound walls are planned the length of the road to mitigate neighborhood impacts. Excluding trucks does not reduce the cost of the structure significantly, but in a relatively narrow road, with relatively small truck volumes, the designers think trucks would obstruct traffic flow and reduce tolls from cars. And with cars-only the visual intrusiveness and noise for nearby neighborhoods will be reduced.

The flood channel over which the roadway would be located is 50m to 60m wide, so there is space for the road plus some buffer distance to adjoining properties. These are a mix of light industrial and housing. The URSG design provides for a single set of piers per roadway with the roadways set far enough apart and the piers of sufficient strength to allow widening to 2x3-lanes inward.

Early estimates of construction cost are $600m to $650m.

CA-57 carries close to 200k veh/day on 8-lanes immediately north of the Orange Crush IC so there should be plenty of traffic for 4-lanes south. The Disneyland resort and the Anaheim sports stadium are close by the northern end of the 57-South. The southern end is close to the South Coast Plaza, John Wayne Airport and Irvine. (Contact Bob Farris 602 852 3929)