This is about safety in road conditions on the West Bound Garden Grove 22 Freeway and the Seal Beach Boulevard onramp. Recently there was a query to the Orange County Transit Authority for this issue and OCTA’s answer was as follows:
“Reconstruction efforts are well underway for the Seal Beach Boulevard bridge over the I-405 freeway.
“The bridge was reduced to one lane in each direction, with a center median dedicated solely to emergency service vehicles, in August and within the last month, the western half of the bridge has been demolished.
“As part of reconstruction activities, crews reconfigured the loop onramp from Seal Beach Boulevard to the northbound 405 freeway, as well as shifted lanes along the 405 to the outside, in order to accommodate for demolition and reconstruction activities of the bridge.
“This new configuration is a temporary condition and will remain through the two phases of reconstructing the bridge, scheduled for completion in summer 2014.
“The West County Connectors team encourages motorists to exercise caution while merging on to the freeway and to share the road with cyclists while traveling over the bridge.
“For more information or to share your comments with the West County Connectors team, please email us at wccproject@octa.net.”
This response from OCTA still does not answer to the question of safety.
To me safety is the key to any construction and CalTrans’ road conditions should be no different.
I have seen articles in other counties that show concern when it comes to construction hazards but unfortunately a fatality of two or more needs to happen in order for them to wake up and smell the coffee.
Frankly, I believe OCTA hasn’t considered it due to the fact that they need that same proof and they actually have it right now—they just refuse to see it until someone like myself points it out to them publicly. The fact is that there have been fatalities on both the 22 freeway and the 605 onramp that back this point up quite effectively.
Case in point #1 is on May 7, 2012 of the death of a construction worker who was the passenger in a truck on the onramp to the 605 freeway where the driver of that truck collided into a tree.
The driver went to the hospital, the passenger died at the scene.
You can’t tell me that the construction confusion wasn’t a factor in that collision, for the fact is that there was reconstruction of that part of the freeway that was already planned and it helped shape those K-Rails differently, as you see them today.
Case in point # 2 on October 25, 2012, there were two fatalities on the onramp that happened in one “day” according to the CHP.
One was a hit and run on a motorcycle by a sedan on the Westbound Garden Grove 22 Freeway near the off ramp of 7th street in Seal Beach, and the first one the same day was a motorcycle fatality near Seal Beach.
This news gets me because it validates the true hazard in this area I am talking about specifically.
The fact is that in College Park East alone, there have been at least 12 people who have written on a neighborhood blog, showed concern about the unsafe onramp road conditions in this area. Where else to go? The choice is alternate routes, but that doesn’t make sense, for it clogs up other freeway onramps unnecessarily. I am so concerned with this issue, based on my belief in safety, so I share with you my letter this week to the OCTA as follows: “To OCTA, please consider this as a solution to the lack of safety on the onramp to the Garden Grove 22 Freeway at Seal Beach: 1. Please shape/fix the K-Rails to not be so sharp–currently they are so sharp that it slows the drivers down to not be able to go at 65 mph when they reach the freeway.
That is the main reason why people avoid this area at all.
2. It would help if there were signage for drivers exiting onto the 7th Street off ramp so that they heed drivers who are getting onto the freeway. Currently 7th Street drivers are confused as to why so many drivers are trying to pass over safely and they just speed up like Speedy Gonzales to continue their drive onto 7th Street. Sincerely, Enea Ostrich, Resident of CPE Seal Beach.”
Hopefully all this ends in a safe sense for all us concerned drivers. Thanks to everyone reading this and if you have anything to add, please send your concerns to the OCTA at wccproject@octa.net.
Enea Ostrich is a longtime residnt of Seal Beach’s College Park East neighborhood.
