Gov. Arnold Scharzenegger recently proposed building a second level to Los Angeles’ 405 Freeway, which Caltrans considers to be the busiest in the state.
Schwarzenegger said congestion has increased steadily since he arrived in California 40 years ago.
“So this is why it is so important, because we have this bumper-to-bumper traffic, to go and build an extra lane and build out that 405 Freeway,” he said in a speech. “And hopefully, eventually, we will build on top of the 405 Freeway because I think we need another freeway on top of the existing one.”
More construction to the 405 is a cause for concern for commuters like third-year English student Tracy Stanbury.
Stanbury travels the 405 North Monday through Wednesday to attend classes at UCLA.
“I schedule my classes around the freeway,” she said. “Around 9 o’clock it’s clear, and around 11 o’clock it’s clear.”
Stanbury said she experiences the worst traffic on her way home.
“Right around the 105 interchange is when it gets really nasty,” she said. “It just takes a while to get home.”
Commemorating the first anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Feb. 17 event was meant to measure the progress that the act has made and show how it has created jobs and program funding, said Eric Alborg, California Recovery Task Force spokesman.
The task force is charged with placing Recovery Act money into the more than 900 projects going on throughout the state, including the current 405 expansion set for completion in 2013.
The task force takes all the governor and state officials’ projects seriously, Alborg said. However, before a double-decker freeway may be considered, there are other projects to be completed first that have already broken ground, he added.
Visiting professor of public policy and former member of the Amtrak board of directors Michael Dukakis said he does not think making the 405 a double-decker freeway is practical or viable.
Instead, the state must improve its high-speed rail and public transportation systems.
“If you double-deck (the 405), you’ll have two parking lots, not one,” Dukakis said.
A January 2001 Caltrans study showed that building a second level to the 405 Freeway with two lanes in either direction would cost $1.5 billion. In 2003, a follow-up report was issued stating that such a project would be “structurally unsafe and therefore not feasible.”
Out of the $1.7 billion in the Recovery Act fund allocated to improving California transportation infrastructure, $189 million is already in place to add a 72-mile northbound carpool lane to the freeway, making it the longest stretch of carpool lane in the country.
Caltrans has done studies on the current widening project to make sure that a project has benefits that extend beyond the completion date, Alborg said.
The Recovery Act funds are also aiding in the construction of the high-speed rail, Alborg said. In addition to the $10 billion bond passed by voters in 2008, Schwarzenegger applied for an additional $2.3 billion from the federal government to supplement the rail’s construction.
Alborg said the governor is focused on leveraging Recovery Act funds to improve transit throughout the state.
“The governor supports improving California’s infrastructure,” Alborg said. “Included in that is that we bring a high-speed rail to this state.”
While the L.A. Expo Line and the approval of the high-speed rail are steps in the right direction, the Recovery Act stimulus funds should not be spent on expanding the freeways to reduce congestion, Dukakis said.
“The only way to make the freeway system work is to provide a first-class public transportation system,” he said. “They’re not going to build their way out of this.”
Alborg said the governor’s speech was meant to stress the importance of thinking outside the box when it comes to solving congestion and making the freeway system more efficient.
“The idea is a symptom of something larger, and that is improving California infrastructure,” he said.