Planned closure of part of 405 in Costa Mesa for bridge demolition is postponed because of rain forecast

This weekend’s planned closure of a stretch of the 405 Freeway in Costa Mesa for demolition work on the Fairview Road bridge has been postponed a week because of a forecast of rain.

The Orange County Transportation Authority said Thursday morning that the full freeway closure, which had been scheduled for overnight Saturday, will be held from about 11 p.m. March 9 to 9 a.m. the next day between Fairview Road and the 73 Freeway.

The Fairview bridge is being torn down and rebuilt in two stages, allowing it to largely remain open to traffic in some capacity during the project, which is expected to take up to 24 months to complete, according to OCTA.

Once reconstructed, the bridge will still have 10 traffic lanes. However, OCTA plans to install a 4-foot-wide painted median and widen the existing sidewalks and bicycle lanes.

During next weekend’s freeway closure, several ramps and connectors also will be cordoned off during the construction period, including:

• Fairview Road from South Coast Drive to McCormack Lane
• Northbound 73 to northbound 405 connector
• Northbound 405 off-ramp to Susan Street
• Northbound 405 off-ramp to Harbor Boulevard
• Northbound 405 on-ramp from Fairview
• Southbound 405 to southbound 73 connector
• Southbound 405 on-ramp from Fairview
• Southbound 73 on-ramp from Fairview

Detour signs will be in place to help drivers navigate the area.

The Fairview bridge is one of 18 that will be rebuilt as part of a larger $1.9-billion effort to expand 16 miles of the 405 between the 73 and the 605 Freeway near Rossmoor.

That project — which is expected to be complete in 2023 — will add an additional general-purpose lane and a new “express” toll lane to both directions of the freeway in that stretch. The current carpool lane in each direction will be converted to an express lane, according to OCTA.

For more information, visit octa.net/405improvement.

UPDATES:

This article was originally published at 4:55 p.m. Feb. 27 and was later updated with new information.