The Interstate 5 Valley View Interchange Project was a multiyear effort that improved a busy stretch of freeway that goes through Buena Park, La Mirada, Cerritos and Santa Fe Springs.
By Marc Bischoff
District 7 information officer
Caltrans hopes to complete all major construction on the Interstate 5 Valley View Avenue Interchange Project early this year.
The Valley View Avenue project broke ground in mid-November of 2016. It added a High Occupancy Vehicle and mixed-flow lane in each direction along approximately one and a half miles of I-5 from the Artesia Boulevard undercrossing to North Fork Coyote Creek. The project extends through the cities of Buena Park, La Mirada, Cerritos and Santa Fe Springs.
Three bridges were reconstructed: the Valley View Avenue Bridge at I-5 which added a third lane and includes a railroad overpass; the North Firestone Boulevard Bridge over Coyote Creek; and the I-5 freeway bridge at Coyote Creek. The project also includes new on- and off-ramps and improvements to the frontage roads.
This project is the last of six interchanges reconstructed as part of the I-5 South Corridor freeway widening project that began with the Carmenita Road interchange project in late 2011. The other four interchanges that were reconstructed along the I-5 include Alondra Boulevard, Imperial Highway/Pioneer Boulevard, Norwalk Boulevard and Firestone Boulevard.
The I-5 South Corridor project was completed in cooperation with six cities: Downey, Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs, La Mirada, Cerritos and Buena Park. Upon completion, there will be four mixed-flow lanes and one HOV lane in each direction of I-5 between the Orange County line and just south of the Interstate 605 interchange.