As if parking wasn’t already a hassle on campus, now getting to school will be a pain as well. Sometime in March there will be a one-year-long closure of the 7th Street Bridge, where the northbound I-405, westbound SR-22 and Seventh Street connect. This closure will become a headache for those using the connector bridge to get to school and work.
Fortunately, I don’t use the connector bridge to get to class; however, I do commute to work in Orange four to five times a week. This closure will affect me on close to a day-to-day basis. That’s not to mention the hordes of other people who commute to school and work using the bridge.
The closure of the connector bridge is part of the West County Connectors project, which also includes closures of other parts of the freeway between the Valley View exit and where the 405 and 605 meet.
All these closures of major parts of the freeway make me wonder: Is this construction necessary?
I’ve been using this stretch of the freeway since I started as a freshman three years ago, and while the traffic does get bad at rush hour, where else does it not? The traffic isn’t bad enough to warrant the current construction.
These closures force commuters to use detours longer than actually sitting in traffic itself. Not to mention the traffic that will be directed onto surface streets, meaning frustrated drivers will have to wait at stoplights as well.
Another headache will be checking the Internet each morning to see what detours to take. Commuters will need this information so they can account for the extra time needed to get to their destination.
Besides adding to travel time, what bothers me the most is the $277 million being spent on the entire project. California is in a serious financial crisis, our schools have no money, but we’re going to grant this money to reconstruct an already functioning bridge, build a few carpool lanes and add imprints of seals and cranes to cement walls to boost freeway aesthetics.
After finding out how much the construction is costing, this project has really turned into a joke. The OCTA is attempting to accommodate by providing information on closures and detours online, but the money being spent leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
So as I sit in traffic on Westminster Avenue next month, I’ll be wishing for the next grueling year to be over. I’ll be frustrated my tuition has increased just so I can drive on a freeway with really expensive cement walls of swimming seals and flying cranes.
Chasen Doerr is a junior journalism major and contributing writer for the Daily 49er.
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