By Justin Hsieh, News Editor
On the night of Aug. 29, the Talbert Avenue and Bushard Street bridges spanning the San Diego Freeway (I-405) will be closed to traffic for construction by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). The Slater Avenue bridge north of FVHS, which began construction last year, will simultaneously re-open.
The construction of the bridges on Talbert Avenue and Bushard Street is expected to last approximately one year, although this estimate is subject to change in the event of safety or weather hazards.
Traffic disruptions will be compounded by solar panel construction in the FVHS parking lots, which will displace both students and staff and may cause traffic backups onto Talbert Avenue. The Fountain Valley Police Department will be working with FVHS to protect pedestrians and prevent traffic obstruction at the intersection of Talbert Avenue and Bushard Street.
“The biggest advice is… to try to arrive early, drive safely [and] please be patient,” Principal Morgan Smith said. “Our teachers are going to be aware that there are going to be traffic issues so we’re counting on our school community – parents, teachers, students – to all be patient.”
The closures of the Bushard Street and Talbert Avenue bridges will force students who regularly use them to find alternative routes like Slater Avenue to commute to FVHS.
“Normally it’s about a five minute drive because I just go straight down Bushard [Street] and I’m at the school; now I have to make a turn on McFadden [Avenue] and I have to go down Brookhurst [Street] and go to Slater [Avenue],” junior Jaden Nguyen said. “It’ll probably double my commute, which is unfortunate because I don’t want to pay for gas.”
The construction on the bridges is part of the OCTA’s I-405 Improvement Project, which aims to accommodate anticipated increases in traffic volume on the freeway. The project will add one general traffic lane in each direction from Euclid Street to Interstate 605 (I-605), add a center lane in each direction from State Route 73 (SR-73) to the I-605 and combine the new center lane with existing carpool lanes to form 405 Express Lanes.
“This 16-mile segment of I-405 [the SR-73 to the I-605] is one of the most heavily traveled stretches of highway in the nation, and both the regular lanes and carpool lanes are heavily congested during rush hour and on weekends,” said OCTA communications specialist Megan Abba. “The project is critical to accommodate expected employment, population and housing growth throughout the region.”
The bridge on Slater Avenue was the first of 18 bridges from Costa Mesa to the Los Angeles County line to be built, widened or replaced as part of the I-405 Improvement Project, including all seven bridges in Fountain Valley (Ward Street, Talbert Avenue, Brookhurst Street, Slater Avenue, Bushard Street, Warner Avenue and Magnolia Street).
“The Bushard bridge is normally the way I get to school,” junior James Thai said. “Now I’ll have to go to the Slater bridge, which will probably make my ride five to ten minutes longer. I don’t really mind; I’ll probably just leave for school a little earlier, but I’m sure about how it affects other people. As long as it goes towards improving our roads in the future, I’m all for it.”
The OCTA is working with cities along the freeway to sequence construction dates in a way that minimizes local traffic disruption.
“We understand that construction is never easy but anyone who drives along the 405 and surrounding streets knows how badly improvements are needed,” said Abba. “We appreciate the community’s continued patience during construction.”
FVHS administration will be using the communication app ParentSquare to send email updates on the construction. For more information about the I-405 Improvement Project and its impact on Fountain Valley, visit fountainvalley.org.
