ORANGE : Officials Prepare for Freeway Widening

The planned widening of the Santa Ana Freeway through Orange and Anaheim is at least three years away, but officials from both municipalities are already preparing for the expected impact of construction on the two cities.

City officials have joined with representatives of the California Department of Transportation and the Orange County Transportation Authority to form the I-5 Steering Committee, which has already begun to meet and work on counteracting problems the freeway improvements are expected to bring.

“There is a lot of disruption that occurs during construction,” said Frank Page, Orange public works director. “We want to minimize problems to the community.”

Page said committee members hope to avoid the kind of complications that widening has already brought to such cities as Tustin and Santa Ana, where many residents and businesses have been adversely affected for years by street closures and traffic rerouting.

The committee has formed groups to work on issues such as business and residential relocation and landscaping.

“It’s a tricky project,” Page said. “But it can be done, and it will be done.”