ORANGE – Placentia Avenue will be closed for 10 days beginning this Friday to allow construction crews to shift the railroad tracks and prepare for the opening of the new bypass road.
Once reopened, traffic will move to the temporary road allowing Placentia Avenue to remain open to drivers while work continues on the undercrossing project.
The full closure is scheduled to take place between 8 p.m. on June 22 and 6 a.m. on July 2. Detour signs will be posted and the suggested route is as follows:
• Traveling southbound on Placentia Avenue, turn right at Chapman Avenue, left at State College Boulevard and left at Orangethorpe Avenue
• Traveling northbound on Placentia Avenue, turn left at Orangethorpe Avenue, right at State College Boulevard and right at Chapman Avenue
The Placentia Avenue undercrossing project is part of the O.C. Bridges Program, which will improve traffic flow and safety at seven crossings along the BNSF rail line by building a series of bridges – both underpasses and overpasses – to separate car traffic from trains. Once work is completed, drivers will no longer have to waste time idling at rail crossings, waiting for trains to pass.
Nearly 70 trains a day travel along the BNSF rail line through Anaheim, Fullerton and Placentia and that number is anticipated to increase more than 45 percent by 2030.
Additional crossings will begin construction on a staggered basis over the next 18 months and include Orangethorpe Avenue, Tustin Avenue/Rose Drive, Lakeview Avenue, Raymond Avenue and State College Boulevard.
The $600 million O.C. Bridges program is funded by Measure M2, Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, as well as state and federal dollars.
For more information, visit www.ocbridges.com.
