Community Corner
405 Improvement Hearing Draws Packed House
Both residents and business owners were on hand to gather information and voice their concerns about the potential impact of the project.
More then 100 residents from in and around Fountain Valley packed the Thursday night to get more information and voice their concerns about the proposed .
"People want to know how it's going to impact their property," said Joel Zlotnik, public relations officer for OCTA. "They want to know how it's going to affect their businesses. This is a unique project because of the express lanes. That's generated a lot of interest. Plus, there's the construction impact. Contruction is not a good neighbor."
The I-405 corridor between highway 73 and I-605 serves about 300,000 cars per day. There are three option on the table for the improvement project, plus a fouth no-build option. The first option would add one lane in each direction between Euclid Street in Fountain Valley and I-605. The second option would add two lanes in each direction, and the third option would add one lane plus an express lane in each direction.
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The area used by Caltrans and OCTA in their impact study included a quarter mile on each side of the freeway in both directions. Trisha Morris, who came all the way from Seal Beach to attend the hearing, was concerned regardless of which option is eventually implemented because her house is off of a street that directly fronts I-405, and any widening would place the freeway at least 10 feet close to that frontage road, costing her and her neighbors parking space. Plus, the sound wall would have to be knocked down for at least a month until a new one could be put in place.
"Are you kidding me? We have problems already with the sound wall there," Morris said. "So yeah, we're a little riled up."
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The project also has the potential to affect business owners, some more directly than others. Bob LaBriola, whose sits directly alongside the existing southbound 405, would likely be forced to move his business once contruction begins.
"We've been here for 35 years," he said. "We service 150,000 people a year. We do fund raising for 70 schools in the area. It would be impossible."
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