Caltrans Announces $300 Million “Super 605” Freeway Enhancement Project

Today in Norwalk, Caltrans District 7 leadership, federal partners, and local electeds gathered to break ground on Caltrans’ nearly $300 million Super 605 Freeway Enhancement Project.

According to a Caltrans press statement, the Super 605 Freeway Enhancement Project project cost totals $298.3 million, including $273.2 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and $23.2 million from S.B. 1 (state gas tax) funds.

Caltrans describes the Super 605 as including:

…rehabilitating pavement and concrete slabs, new pavement, new guardrail, vehicle turnouts, skid-resistant surfaces on ramps, and new reflective freeway overhead sign structures. In addition, the project includes 53 acres of landscaping and stormwater improvements to help prevent trash and other pollutants from draining into the San Gabriel River.

Caltrans anticipates that “the new pavement will extend the service life of the roadway up to 40 years.”

According to Caltrans’ project fact sheet and webpage, the Super 605 project features three segments, numbered in timeline order:

• Segment 1: Katella Avenue to Telegraph Road in Santa Fe Springs – $72.7 million, ~10.5 miles, construction expected 2023-2028
• Segment 2: 10 Freeway in Baldwin Park to the 605 terminus at Huntington Drive in Duarte – $24.5 million, ~6 miles, construction expected 2023-2026
• Segment 3: Telegraph to the 10 Freeway – $201.1 million, ~10 miles, construction expected 2024-2030

The project does not appear to expand or widen the freeway itself, but focuses on maintaining/rehabilitating the existing roadway. It includes a tiny bit of complete streets features, mainly “an in-roadway warning light system” for future Spring Street bridge bicycle lanes in Long Beach – plus basic pedestrian/wheelchair facilities (curb ramps, signals, crosswalks) at ramps, as well as the above-mentioned landscaping and rainwater features.

Caltrans and Metro are still planning a future $5+billion 605 Freeway expansion, called the 605 Corridor Improvement Project (605CIP), for which Metro will host community meetings this fall/winter. In July, Metro announced that the 605CIP will not displace any residential properties, rescinding Metro’s 2020 announcement that the project would demolish hundreds of homes and several apartment buildings.