91 Freeway Construction In Anaheim/Fullerton

[Occidental Tourist]

As part of adding a fourth general travel lane to the 91 freeway westbound through Anaheim and Fullerton, last week Caltrans/OCTA installed a new overhead gantry to replace the one depicted below.  The new sign installation uses a wider gantry and has new retroreflective signs.



Unfortunately, the new sign installation parrots the following errors in the old assembly:

1) Use of "Artesia"  (Population 16,736) as a control city for the 91 West.  Artesia replaced Long Beach as the control city for this portion of the 91 in the early 1990s, during the reconstruction of the 5/91 interchange and prior widening of the 91.  The reason for this switch was apparently somebody in District 12 got it in their heads that the reason the freeway west of this location was named the "Artesia Freeway"  was because that was its destination, apparently unaware of the CTC's prior history of naming freeways after the highway surface routings they replaced (e.g., the Newport Freeway after Newport Avenue/Blvd., the Garden Grove Freeway after Garden Grove Avenue/Blvd., the Foothill Freeway after Foothill Blvd., the Century Freeway after Century Blvd., etc.)  This apparent misunderstanding resulted in the Newport Freeway being renamed the Costa Mesa Freeway at around the same time that Artesia became a control city on the 91, because, as a District 12 spokesman told the Orange County Register at the time, it was confusing to drivers to think that the Newport Freeway went all the way to Newport Beach when it actually ended in Costa Mesa.

2) The HOV lane sign identifying that the HOV lane only allows access to the 91 west at the interchange.  There is, in fact, a direct HOV to HOV connector to the 5 as well, but this inaccurate signing has resulted in many instances where I've seen drivers in the carpool lane try to get over at the last minute to the general purpose lanes' interchange for the 5.  This is more than an aesthetic issue like with the unhelpful control city.  This is a safety and motorist information issue, and it's a shame they didn't at least fix this in designing the replacement signs.

[mrsman]

I agree with regard to the confusion over the name and control of the 91 west of I-5.  I remember when names were more commonplace, that the whole stretch west of the 5 was the Artesia Freeway.  Then, they renamed the portion west of I-710 as the Redondo Beach Freeway.  Then, many started calling the whole stretch the Gardena Freeway.

I believe the entire 91 freeway, from the 110 to the I215/CA 60 interchange should be known as the Riverside Freeway (to the extent that people still use names and not just simply saying "the 91").  The eastbound control city should be Riverside (except within central Riverside, where the control should be San Bernardino as the through lanes lead to I-215 north).  The westbound control city should be Anaheim (not LA nor Beach Cities) from Riverside to CA-241.  From CA-241 to Harbor Blvd, CA-91 needs two control cities posted on the BGSes Anahiem and Gardena.  The westbound control west of Harbor Blvd should be Gardena.

For the 55 north, the Anaheim control is not helpful.  The control should be Yorba Linda / Riverside, so that traffic heading to Disneyland and Anahiem Stadium will take I-5 instead of CA-55 and not be confused.

[nexus73]

I agree with regard to the confusion over the name and control of the 91 west of I-5.  I remember when names were more commonplace, that the whole stretch west of the 5 was the Artesia Freeway.  Then, they renamed the portion west of I-710 as the Redondo Beach Freeway.  Then, many started calling the whole stretch the Gardena Freeway.

I believe the entire 91 freeway, from the 110 to the I215/CA 60 interchange should be known as the Riverside Freeway (to the extent that people still use names and not just simply saying "the 91").  The eastbound control city should be Riverside (except within central Riverside, where the control should be San Bernardino as the through lanes lead to I-215 north).  The westbound control city should be Anaheim (not LA nor Beach Cities) from Riverside to CA-241.  From CA-241 to Harbor Blvd, CA-91 needs two control cities posted on the BGSes Anahiem and Gardena.  The westbound control west of Harbor Blvd should be Gardena.

For the 55 north, the Anaheim control is not helpful.  The control should be Yorba Linda / Riverside, so that traffic heading to Disneyland and Anahiem Stadium will take I-5 instead of CA-55 and not be confused.

In agreement with you!  I remember driving along 91 and seeing name changes as I got into the western section.  It sounded confusing back in the Seventies and that confusion for names is still present 40 years later.  No wonder this country is going to pieces.  We can't even name a freeway properly...LOL!

Rick

[DTComposer]

I believe the entire 91 freeway, from the 110 to the I215/CA 60 interchange should be known as the Riverside Freeway (to the extent that people still use names and not just simply saying "the 91").  The eastbound control city should be Riverside (except within central Riverside, where the control should be San Bernardino as the through lanes lead to I-215 north).  The westbound control city should be Anaheim (not LA nor Beach Cities) from Riverside to CA-241.  From CA-241 to Harbor Blvd, CA-91 needs two control cities posted on the BGSes Anahiem and Gardena.  The westbound control west of Harbor Blvd should be Gardena.

Gardena isn't a primary destination for most people using this route, even if the end of the freeway dumps you off there. Here's what I'd do:

WESTBOUND
from CA-60 to Harbor Boulevard: Anaheim/Long Beach
Harbor Boulevard to I-710: Long Beach/Redondo Beach
I-710 to end of route: Redondo Beach

I know to get to Redondo Beach requires travel on the decommissioned (but still signed) surface street after the freeway, but that's really the more recognizable destination, both from proper name recognition and the idea that the route gets you to the beach. Plus, given the choice between continuing along Artesia Boulevard or jogging onto I-110 to I-405 then exiting Artesia, the time savings is negligible.

EASTBOUND
I-110 to Harbor Boulevard: Anaheim/Riverside
Harbor Boulevard to Main Street: Corona/Riverside
Main Street to University Avenue: Riverside
University Avenue to end of route: San Bernardino

[Occidental Tourist]

If we're doing the control city debate, I say:

WB:  Riverside, Anaheim, Torrance
EB:  Anaheim, Riverside, San Bernardino

No idea what to do about the 55.  Just Riverside as a control city was "ok" if not strange in some places.  Riverside/Anaheim is the exact opposite of helpful, particularly for out-of-towners trying to get to Disneyland who find themselves crossing the Riverside County line.