On Friday May 24, the State Assembly voted to approve legislation by Assembly Member Tom Daly (D-Anaheim) to facilitate an expedited project delivery on the San Diego Freeway (I 405) Improvement Project. Assembly Bill 401 is OCTA’s sponsor bill to allow for design-build authority on the I-405 Improvement Project. This project, funded by voter-approved Measure M2, will widen the I-405 between State Route 73 (SR-73) and Interstate 605 (I-605). Design-build is a method of project delivery in which the design and construction services are contracted by a single entity and is used to reduce the delivery schedule by overlapping the design phase and construction phase of the project. Ultimately, AB 401 will allow OCTA to speed up the completion of the project by two to three years as well as accelerate the creation of thousands of jobs that will be created or sustained by this project.
The bill has received support from numerous groups including the Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Region 9, the Orange County Business Council (OCBC), the Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA), and the Association of California Cities – Orange County (ACC-OC). In addition, Assembly Member Don Wagner (R-Irvine) and Assembly Member Eric Linder (R Corona) both spoke in support of the bill.
AB 401 will now go to the Senate, where it must pass out of policy committee by July 12, in order to continue to move forward.
