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Super 605 Freeway Project Nearing Halfway Mark

The goal of the Super 605 Freeway Enhancements Project is to rehabilitate a 28-mille corridor of I-605. Spanning close to 200 lane miles of freeway, the project covers the entirety of the freeway, beginning in Duarte in the San Gabriel Valley and extending all the way down to Los Alamitos near Long Beach. This stretch of freeway has not had any major system-wide improvements for 55 years since its construction in 1971.

Over the past eight years, L.A. Metro has been working with HDR, Caltrans, the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments to create a project that will improve the safety, mobility, and connectivity throughout the region. They chose concrete pavement for the overwhelming majority of the project, with the goal being to be extend its lifespan, reduce costly repairs, provide a smoother ride for motorists, and create a safer environment for Caltrans workers – and motorists – by reducing the frequency and duration of pavement maintenance.

Funding for the six-plus-year, $298.4-million project comes from the Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), $273.3 million; Senate Bill (SB) 1, $23.3 million; and the State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP), $1.8 million.

The Super 605 Freeway Enhancements Project was designed to be executed in three individual segments. The first segment was awarded to the joint venture of C.A. Rasmussen and Vanguard Construction, who are now nearing completion of their work, ahead of the initial schedule. Peterson-Chase General Engineering Construction got the contract for the second segment, and they have recently concluded their portion of the project, also ahead of schedule. And Myers and Sons Construction, who won the third segment contract, is approaching the halfway mark in the last segment of the project.

Segment 3, the largest of the three in this project, covers the remaining stretch of I-605 between Telegraph Road in Santa Fe Springs up north to the intersection of I-10. The scope of work includes the rehabilitation of 93 lane miles of pavement, with 43 miles undergoing full replacement and the balance of 50 miles having individual slabs replaced. Additional scope of work includes upgrading more than 16,000 linear feet of guardrail, replacing 16 overhead sign structures, and 53 acres of landscaping and stormwater improvements to help prevent trash and other pollutants from draining into the San Gabriel River. Targeted completion for Segment 3 is early 2030.

Myers and Sons began work on the 10 miles of Segment 3 on August 30, 2024. The team is working over extended weekend closures (EWCs) for maximum efficiency to perform full replacement of lanes 3 and 4 with Lean Concrete Base (LCB) and Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP), with Rapid Strength Concrete (RSC) solely being used in both applications. It was projected that it would take approximately 70 EWCs to perform all of the work, but the current schedule has reduced it to 59 EWCs.

As reported by Senior Project Manager Sal Deraki on June 15th, the crews recently concluded extended weekend closure no. 26. To date, Myers and Sons has completed 90,932 linear feet of both northbound and southbound lanes 3 and 4, with approximately 100,000 linear feet left to go.

A few challenges have come up during the course of construction, and the team is diligently working with Caltrans to resolve them, with existing joint issues in three miles of lane 3 being one of them. Traffic safety is another, and the California Highway Patrol is on site to prevent drivers from entering the closed worksites over the weekends. A third – and unforeseen – challenge is a host of precast and reinforced panels that were not shown on the plans, which created a logistical problem with removal and disposal, but it is being resolved. Other than that, work is progressing smoothly and the rehab work is scheduled to be completed over 33 more extended weekend closures.