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Mini Carmageddon? Major Two-Week Connector Closure Starts

The southbound 605/405 connector will close for two weeks.

Starting Monday, the connector road from the southbound San Gabriel River (605) Freeway to the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway will close for about two weeks to accommodate improvements along the stretch.

The connector road will be rebuilt, and a carpool lane will be added, according to Caltrans, which is overseeing the $277 million West County Connector Project.

Drivers will be able to exit the 605 and take surface streets through Long Beach, Rossmoor and Seal Beach to reach the 405, or they can exit at Katella Avenue, go right on Los Alamitos Boulevard/Seal Beach Boulevard to get the the southbound 405.

Motorists can also exit at Spring Street in Long Beach and go left on Woodruff Avenue to reach the southbound 405.

Overnight Sunday through Thursday, drivers were urged to exit the 605 at Willow, turn left on Studebaker, left on East Second Street/Westminster Avenue, then left at Seal Beach Boulevard to reach the 405 south.

The overall project, aimed at improving the flow of traffic on the two north-south freeways as well as the east-west Garden Grove (22) Freeway, is scheduled for completion in 2014.

- City News Service

Larry Jackson July 29, 2012 at 07:10 pm
Seal Beach/Los Alamitos Blvd. is already overwhelmed with traffic due to freeway congestion and patronage of local businesses. If the 22 connector to the southbound 405 is open, why not instruct southbound Studebaker Rd. drivers to turn left onto the eastbound 22/7th Street ramp and proceed onto the I405, instead of telling them to go all the way down to East Second St./Westminister to make their left turn?
Paige Austin (Editor) July 29, 2012 at 07:55 pm
Offhand, I don't know the answer to that, but I will forward the question to OCTA. I'll post the answer here, or maybe OCTA can answer it directly on their Patch blog.
Lorena Vernon July 30, 2012 at 05:43 pm
To answer the post above, that section might be closed too. They have been working on that strecht for what it seems forever. Another tip, you can exit on Spring and turn Left on Palo Verde, there is an on-ramp to the 405 there without having to drive down the Woodruff
Nancy Wride July 30, 2012 at 06:11 pm
I boarded at Studebaker and took the 405 South at about 8:30am and it was zero traffic through the lead-in to the connector. How was your drive?
Nancy Wride July 30, 2012 at 06:56 pm
Wait, it starts tonight. My bad.
Josephine July 30, 2012 at 07:12 pm
Smooth sailing. How about some feel good music:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMndcQI4l9k
BG Stine July 30, 2012 at 07:31 pm
You think this is a Carmageddon? You ain't seen nuthin' yet. In two weeks when they blow up half of the 405 overpass on Seal Beach Blvd. you'll see carmageddon.
Traffic will be one lane each way. This happened last December for one morning. It took me 50 minutes to go from Leisure World main gate to the other side of the SBBlvd. overpass. A friend said it took him an hour and 15 minutes. This will take TWO years. The REM song Losing My Religion will be worn out. This is going to be hell. This will seperate Los Al from SB. I bet Mcgaugh Elementary parents in Los Al are going to be the first to be up in arms. Since it seems the Toys R' Us and Staples are about to open I wonder if anyone bothered mentioning this fiasco when they signed a 10-year lease?
Joanne July 30, 2012 at 07:38 pm
OR: exit at Katella (or Spring) and go east to Valley View. Turn right and access the 405 south or the 22 east! You don't have to go thru' the Rossmoor/Los Alamitos shopping centers.
Johnny Utah July 30, 2012 at 07:52 pm
They should have fixed the 7th street entrance to the 405S/22 west first before all of this. They have a merged single lane only that backs way up near LB state everyday...so lame.
Lorena Vernon July 30, 2012 at 07:57 pm
Valley View and the 405 is going to be affected. A LOT of work going on there. My best friend lives off of Chapman and Valley View and has been dealing with all the construction - and the housing of the heavy machinery - for months (I'm there quite often so I know a bit about the traffic). I would suggest staying away from Valley View as traffic can get pretty backed up there
Josephine July 30, 2012 at 08:06 pm
Nancy, I was feeling weak after my mistake on the health care building on Pine. Then after you related how you tested the carmageddon this morning, found it to be normal traffic, and then later so gracefully let us know why, well I was happy to have someone join me with a mistake.
Nancy Wride July 30, 2012 at 09:06 pm
Geez, we sound like "The Californians" :D I need to get to downtown Santa Ana in the morning - 8ish, so please hold your news until my return - and thinking I should take Westminster the whole way. Or weave WAY around it to reboard inland farther East. http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-californians/1396627
Nancy Wride July 30, 2012 at 09:07 pm
Long Beach is mentioned at 2:55 mark. :D
Josephine July 30, 2012 at 09:23 pm
How about Loynes to Studabaker, north .3 mile to 22 fwy. The traffic will be from the north down Studebaker, not from the south.
Nancy Wride July 31, 2012 at 02:45 pm
Report from the surrounding area: I took Josephine's suggestion above, and it is sort of a mess in that the signage is awful and a detour for Southbound 405 to the 22 sends you up a street, blocks west to Palo Verde, up to hang a right onto the freeway. I think the Studebaker entrance might have been faster. But returning, the offramp at Studebaker is backed up with the detour due to the closed connector. fyi.
Josephine July 31, 2012 at 03:15 pm
Oh, I thought you lived in Belmont Shore and were going to Santa Ana, so Loynes or Westminster to Studebaker, north to the onramp.
I drove at 8:30am south on Studebaker from Stearns to Loynes, and their was only moderately more traffic - no big deal.
Josephine July 31, 2012 at 03:17 pm
there
Nancy Wride July 31, 2012 at 03:17 pm
Good for you. Yes I live in the Shore so the option was to get on at Studebaker north of L and risk a bottleneck. It worked out but I think we all need to give ourselves an extra 15 minutes minimum or be cussing at the wheel. :D
Nancy Wride August 2, 2012 at 12:13 am
Today's report: boarding the freeway entrance at Studebaker for the Eastbound 22 and Sbound 405, at 8:25 a.m., was sluggish but traffic cops moved things very well. This afternoon for the same trip? Not so good. I took Josephine's route north to Stearns to Palo Verde etc to the detour and it was probably as fast.....
Darielle Podoksik August 16, 2012 at 07:13 pm
When does it reopen?
Larry Jackson August 16, 2012 at 08:33 pm
It's open now, but stand by - starting Sunday the Seal Beach overpass over the I 405 will be reduced to one lane each way for a period of 11 months. To me, that's an even worse scenario.

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