The Revamped 22 Freeway Finally Opened in Orange County After 2 Years of Construction

The heavy construction on the Garden Grove (22) freeway in Orange County seemed nearly unbearable at times for many drivers heading out towards Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Westminster or Seal Beach. Morning and night commuters were stuck in a bottleneck connecter from the 57 southbound freeway to the 22 freeway setting off those prone to road rage. However, the misery is now up for many as the unveiling of the revamped 22 freeway occurred Nov. 30 after two years of construction. As a result, officials say the one-way commute for drivers could be up to 12 minutes faster than before.

More renovations however, are soon to come and the finishing touches on the freeway will not be completed until next fall. Officials say work on streets for the construction of the Magnolia Street Bridge in Garden Grove is still yet to be done. In addition, landscaping on the freeway will not be complete until next fall.

The Orange County Transportation Authority also has suggested plans to link the car-pool lane to the San Diego (405) freeway and the San Gabriel River (605) freeways. The process of devising plans for this are expected in January.

For all the praise this freeway has received for the remodeling, will it really do much to curb the traffic?

Freeways in Orange County and Los Angeles County continue to plagued with traffic as more and more drivers are added to the roads and few people adopt the idea of car-pooling to work, school or wherever else they need to go. In addition, traffic throughout the country - not just in California- is becoming a major issue as federal and local governments talk about spending on infrastructure such as roads and the idea of public transportation.

Those in L.A. are already discussing the idea of an underground subway. Although far along in its coming, at least it is being discussed and most likely will eventually happen in the future.

While widening the 22 freeway to add another lane seems like a nice thing, it is a very short-term solution. So, the question is whether such a short-term solution was worth the two years of construction when in a matter of a few years, the 22 will look like the 405 or 91 freeways (which are digusting sights to see and hopeless scenes for the commuters involved in that traffic each day).

The obvious long-term solution to the mess of drivers is public transportation, which is slowly being adopted in Los Angeles County where the Metro Link and Rail are seeing more and more workers using to get to and from work.

However, the same cannot be said for Orange County residents where the one driver per vehicle mentality still reigns supreme to taking the bus. Taking the train or some sort of rail solution is not really an option in Orange County because the stations are so few and far between. However, officials are discussing the possibility of a system linking Fullerton and Irvine, but would it sell in the county? It might just have to if the traffic continues to increase as it has in the last decade.