OCTA: 405 Improvement Could Provide Solution to 'Worst Intersection'

Two weeks ago, we asked you to choose the , and you chose . So there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that a solution may already be in place. The bad news is that it's likely a few years away.

Because the stretch of road is actually operated by CalTrans and not by the City of Fountain Valley, it will likely end up being improved during the , which is already in the environmental study phase, and which should begin construction sometime next year.

OCTA will be partnering locally with CalTrans on the project, and OCTA spokesperson Joel Zlotnik said that under the proposed plans currently being reviewed, most of Fountain Valley's off ramps would likely be signalized as part of the freeway improvement.

While the city won't be involved in any potential improvements to the Brookhurst Street off ramp, Deputy City Engineer Temo Galvez was able to provide some traffic and collision figures for it. In the past five years, the stretch of road, which includes both the northbound and southbound sides, has been the scene of 51 accidents. Of those, 13 listed a unsafe lane changes as the cause, which Fountain Valley Patch readers cited as their primary reason for nominating the intersection.

Galvez pointed out that, while any number of accidents is more than the city would like to see, literally millions of cars travel the stretch of road in question every year.