Residents Brace for 11-Month Seal Beach Blvd Lane Closures

It’s no , but it’s still going to be rough.

Beginning 5 a.m. Sunday, construction crews will cut one lane on both sides of the Seal Beach Boulevard bridge. They're cutting the lanes to make room for more carpool lanes on the 405 Freeway, which runs beneath the bridge.

If the lines at Ralphs are any indication, residents are edgy about the lane reductions.

When Leisure World resident BG Stine went grocery shopping Friday, the store had eight lanes open and all had notable lines.

“Looked like Wednesday before Thanksgiving,” said Stine. “The manager and cashiers said it’s been that way all day. The customers told them they want to beat the bridge going down ala Jed Clampett gettin' provisions.”

The bridge will shrink from four lanes to two for about 11 months as crews work to rebuild the bridge, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority.

The bridge's center median will be reserved for emergency service vehicles.

Seal Beach Boulevard will be closed from North Gate Road to Old Ranch Parkway from 10 p.m. Saturday night to 5 a.m. Sunday morning so crews can install concrete barriers and adjust roadway striping before the Sunday morning lane reduction.

During demolition and other construction, the bridge will be closed now and then over the next few weeks, according the OCTA.

For a map of suggested alternate routes, click here or click the PDF just below the image at the top of this story.

For more information about the project, email wccproject@octa.net.