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Over the next three decades, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Caltrans and the Riverside County
Transportation Commission plan to make major infrastructure improvements to the Riverside (91) Freeway on both sides of
the county line. Projects will include interchanges and lane widening. Meanwhile,The Irvine Company will make significant
contributions to help fund the City of Anaheim’s more immediate efforts to improve traffic circulation in the Anaheim Hills area.
Improving Freeway Flow
While a new community like Mountain Park helps
to address the critical need for more housing near
major job centers, the potential for increased traffic
is always a concern. But long-term planning to
accommodate growth can prevent the solution to one
problem from becoming the cause of another, and that
is what has been happening in the Anaheim Hills area
as various agencies have worked together on ongoing
efforts to improve traffic flow on the Riverside (91)
Freeway.
Mountain Park has been designed with the expectation that
many of its residents will commute south to Orange County’s
major employment centers in Irvine, Newport Beach, Costa
Mesa, Mission Viejo and elsewhere. But potential traffic impacts
on the 91 Freeway will be alleviated by a number of improvements
that have recently been completed or are planned for the
near future as part of the State Route 91 Implementation Plan.
For example, a re-striping project added a westbound lane to
the freeway along 2.1 miles of pavement from the Corona
Expressway (SR 71) in Corona to the Orange County line. This
lane, which opened in May 2004, connects with a lane addition
that opened on the 91 in February 2004. Together, the improvements
span 3.3 miles of westbound Riverside Freeway between
the Corona Expressway and the Eastern (241) Toll Road.
Preliminary studies by the City of Corona show dramatic
improvements in travel speeds and timesaving during morning
rush hours (5:40 to 7:40 a.m.) between the McKinley Avenue
and Gypsum Road exits. Before the improvements, it took
motorists an average of 58 minutes to travel this section;
the improvements have dropped the average to 13.5 minutes.
The average speed before the improvements was 12 mph; it is
now 52 mph.
Design studies are under way for a project that would further
alleviate congestion on the 91 with an eastbound auxiliary lane
extension, among other improvements. This improvement is
expected to dramatically improve traffic flows between SR 241
and SR 71 where the northbound tollway traffic merges with
eastbound traffic on the 91.
Plans for the next decade also include widening the 91 between
the 55 Freeway and the 241 by adding one general-purpose lane
and replacing the existing auxiliary lane in each direction. This
will provide a two-lane off-ramp at Weir Canyon Road and a
two-lane off-ramp to the 241 connector.
A Major Investment Study is being conducted by the OCTA
and Riverside County Transportation Authority to identify and
develop additional improvements to reduce traffic on the 91.
For example, the study will examine the feasibility of building a
new corridor between Orange and Riverside counties.
Investing in Local Transportation Projects
It’s a longstanding tradition. As each new community
on The Irvine Ranch® is planned, The Irvine Company
works with local officials and agencies to establish an
efficient, innovative circulation network that anticipates
and accommodates growth.
That tradition continues with Mountain Park. The Irvine
Company will play a lead role in funding transportation improvements
to maintain and improve circulation in the neighborhoods
surrounding the new community.
The company’s commitment to keeping residents mobile is
reflected in the gates that will be at the two main entrances of
the community. These gates will ensure that regional traffic does
not cut through Mountain Park and surrounding Anaheim Hills
neighborhoods as motorists seek to avoid the 91 Freeway. (The
gates will accommodate public access to bike lanes and hiking
trails within the community and to the wilderness areas beyond.)
Other measures to prevent increased traffic in the area include
construction of a new interchange on the toll road at Weir
Canyon Road. Plans are underway to extend Weir Canyon Road
to the Eastern Toll Road (241). This will provide Mountain Park
access to the 241 without impacting existing roads or the 91
Freeway; it also will provide Anaheim Hills access to the Toll
Road without having to use the 91. A planned onramp and
offramp at Weir will provide access to and from the Toll Road.
A realignment of the intersection of Santa Ana Canyon Road
and Gypsum Canyon Road also is being planned to discourage
91 freeway cut-through vehicular traffic on Santa Ana
Canyon Road.
The Irvine Company also will provide “fair share” funds to
support a number of other city projects that will improve traffic
flow. These include widening Weir Canyon Road between
La Palma Avenue and the 91 Freeway from four to six lanes,
improvements at the intersection of Weir Canyon Road and
La Palma Avenue, and improvements at the intersection of
Weir Canyon and Santa Ana Canyon Road.
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