Q. Dear Honk: I travel the southbound 405 Freeway from Long Beach to Laguna Beach twice a week. They spent all this time and money and although most of it is quite nice, from Beach Boulevard to a bit past Warner Avenue the road is in horrible shape — ruts and just bad paving in general. I can’t believe they haven’t gone over it to make any further repairs. Now when I’m approaching Beach, I move to the right a couple of lanes to avoid that terrible section of road! Are there plans to fix it? Or are they happy with the results? I, and I’m sure a lot of other drivers, are not!
– Fermin Guerrero, Long Beach
A. You are correct, sir!
Honk received a half-dozen emails complaining about the surface.
As you know, Fermin, the 405 was widened between the 605 and the 73. The extra lanes, pretty new bridges and other stuff cost $2.16 billion.
The Orange County Transportation Authority oversaw that.
“It is important to note that the focus of the project was to improve the highway to meet current and future traffic demands, rather than rehabilitating the existing Caltrans pavement, while minimizing impacts to drivers,” said Megan Abba, an OCTA spokeswoman in an email.
It’s Caltrans’ turn to take the baton.
For much of the prior project’s stretch, Caltrans will work on the lanes’ surface, to “improve the overall driving experience for commuters and travelers along this route,” said a Caltrans official through Sheilah Fortenberry, a Caltrans spokeswoman.
But upset motorists will need to wait a bit.
Construction is to begin in February 2025 and end in March 2027.
Q. The huge American flag at the 91 Freeway/241 Toll Road interchange, it’s always nice to see. It is taken down on windy days, which is a good thing so the flag will not get torn or shredded. Who takes care of that – puts it up and takes it down?
– Pete Schutte, Irvine
A. As you may recall, Pete, from reading Honk or The Orange County Register, a 30-by-60-foot flag rose up a…
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