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$550 million Measure M Funded Design-Build Project will be Model for Future Transportation

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Lawmakers are applauding the cost saving design-build method used on the recently completed Garden Grove (22) Freeway widening project. State officials see this as a model for future construction projects.

While tax payers and political leaders celebrated the efficiency of the construction process, commuters who have had to navigate closed connectors and ramps for the past two years will be happy about a reduced commuting time.

The improvements will save commuters an average of 12 minutes in one direction.

Design-build is a method of construction in which a project is delivered by a single contractor who is responsible for both design work and construction services. Construction on a design-build project can begin before the project’s design is fully completed. This overlapping of design and construction can reduce the overall time and costs necessary to complete the project.

“This has been a very successful project, and it’s been quicker,” OCTA board member Carolyn Cavecche said. “And what’s more important is that it has saved millions for taxpayers.” OCTA officials believed the project needed to be built efficiently.

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The result is a finished product in a short period of time. It will set a precedent for transportation projects throughout the country, Cavecche said.

The General Contractor,  a joint venture of Granite-Myers-Rados, were the driving force behind this all Union project which kept to the scheduling plan from the ground breaking to the opening. Rick Grebner, who is overseeing the project for the OCTA, said it would have been finished in 2010 or 2011 if the agency had used a more traditional approach. Also, soaring construction costs would have raised the cost by millions.

The Garden Grove Freeway is a vital east-west route linking five major freeways in central Orange County. The freeway has had no major improvements since it was built in the 1960s. At that time, Orange County’s population was 700,000. Today, the population is more than 3 million.

Accordingly, the number of vehicles using the SR-22 has grown and it does not have sufficient capacity to meet current and future demand. The improvements will ease traffic flow, remove bottlenecks and enhance safety.

The project, which spans a twelve mile stretch of freeway between the cities of Westminster, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Orange, will help accommodate the 200,000 motorists who travel the corridor daily.

That number is expected to climb to more than 250,000 cars a day by 2020.
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The SR 22 project improvements included:

• A high occupancy vehicle (HOV) or carpool lane in each direction between Tustin Avenue and Valley View Street.
• A new auxiliary lane in each direction between The City Drive and Beach Boulevard and auxiliary lanes between interchanges at various locations.
• A reconfigured connector from southbound Orange Freeway (SR-57) to westbound SR-22. The City Drive on- and off-ramps will be relocated to pass underneath the reconfigured connector. This will eliminate the weaving and lane changing that motorists currently encounter while exiting and entering at The City Drive or merging from southbound SR-57 to westbound SR-22.
• A new collector/distributor road system between The City Drive and the I-5 interchange that separates and improves entering and exiting traffic from eastbound SR-22.
• Additional lanes on various on- and off-ramps and signal upgrades on all ramps.
• Soundwalls and landscaping improvements along the project limits.

The next step is finishing work on streets and construction of the Magnolia Street bridge, which was added to the project after the city of Garden Grove received federal funding, by March.

Landscaping along the freeway is expected to be complete by next fall, Grebner said.

OCTA officials are also looking at enhancing a 2½-mile stretch of the 22 by building car-pool connectors that would link the freeway to the San Diego (405) and San Gabriel River (605) freeways.

Preliminary engineering work is expected to start in January.

 
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