The expansion of the Seal Beach Boulevard Bridge is nearing completion, according to a representative of the Orange County Transportation Authority.
Joel Zlotnik said six lanes of the bridge, three in each direction, are expected to be open to the public by the end of July. He said the OCTA was looking at Friday, July 25.
He also said that the the northbound on ramp from Seal Beach Boulevard for the Interstate 405 Freeway will be closed for eight weeks, starting July 25. Zlotnik said that this needed to be done in order to realign the on ramp to tie in with the newly expanded bridge.
Zlotnik said that when the bridge project is completed, the final configuration will feature four lanes going northbound and three lanes going southband.
Zlotnik said the project was expected to be completed in September.
Sean Crumby, Seal Beach director of Public Works, said the majority of the bridge work is completed and OCTA was now finishing the ends.
“The city is monitoring and participating in the project,” Crumby said. “Currently, it appears as if the project will be complete this summer.”
A recent notice from the OCTA said the southbound I-405 off-ramp on Seal Beach Boulevard would be closed for 12-hours on a yet-to-be-determined weekend night in August “to tie-in with the new east-half of the Seal Beach Boulevard Bridge.”
According to the West County Connectors project website, the bridge project began in September 2013, with construction crews first rebuilding the east half of the bridge and then the west half.
At first, only one lane of traffic was open in either direction. An emergency-vehicle-only lane stood between them. When work began on the west half of the bridge, motorists had two lanes in each direction available. There was no emergency lane.
As the construction project progressed, the bridge was closed to traffic in late at night, causing traffic detours in the vicinity of the bridge. The Long Beach Fire Department covered College Park East, rather than Orange County Fire Authority, because the early stages of the construction project cut off College Park East and part of Leisure World from the nearest OCFA station.
For more information about the project, visit octa.net/sealbeachbridge.
