Alondra Boulevard (Orange County) bridge over I-5 closure tenatively scheduled for June 3 2013

The Alondra Boulevard bridge over the 5 Freeway tentatively is scheduled to be closed, beginning June 3, CalTrans officials have announced.

Demolition will follow soon after, said Abdi Saghafi, project manager for the corridor for the state Department of Transportation.

The closure is part of the project to widen the freeway from its existing six-lane configuration to 10 lanes that will include a carpool lane on each side. The $1.6 billion project will go from the Orange County border to the 605 Freeway.

“Proper notices will be provided to residents and all kinds of signage to ensure traffic goes the right way,” said Saghafi about the bridge closure.

The announcement was made at Thursday’s town hall meeting held by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Industry, at the Norwalk Art and Sports Complex. More than 100 people were present.

Alondra Boulevard will be closed from Marquardt Avenue to Freeway Drive for what is expected to be 11 months until the new bridge is constructed.

However, Anaheim-based C.C. Myers, the contractor was given a financial incentive to finish it sooner. The state will give the company $100,000 for each month it completes the bridge sooner than the expected 11 months, said Asadour Terterian, a senior transportation engineer for CalTrans.

Diaa Yassin, project manager for the Alondra project, said the road could have been kept open while the

“If we were to do that, the construction time would have been more than doubled,” Yassin said.

It could have been as much as two-and-a-half years, he said.

Thaddeus McCormack, city manager of Santa Fe Springs said he’s happy that CalTrans kept its promise of 30 days notice of the closure.

“We’ve known that it was going to come down,” McCormack said. “The sooner that it comes down, the sooner it will go back up.”

Yassin also had news about the Valley View Avenue interchange.

He said that at least part of that bridge will remain open during construction.

Construction on that segment isn’t expected to begin until 2014.

During the town hall meeting, Saghafi, said despite the inconvenience caused by the construction – work on the freeway from Carmenita Road to Imperial Highway is under way – the project is worth it.

“In about five years – by 2018 – we will have gates of heaven on the Los Angeles County side,” he said. “The work will pay off. We will match the width of the freeway and number of lanes Orange County has.”

Questions during the town hall meeting were raised by Norwalk residents about the sound walls and shaking because of the drilling.

Andy Neremberg, who is in charge for the right of way division for CalTrans, said anyone who has damage to their home, should contact his office, 213-897-1901.

As for sound walls, CalTrans officials said the plan is to plant vines along them as a deterrent to graffiti.