California transportation officials have earmarked approximately $236 million to help fund work to widen a 4-mi. section of the 55 Freeway, a project for which construction is expected to begin next year.

The funds are part of a $2.1 billion allocation doled out by the California Transportation Commission for various transportation projects throughout the state, Caltrans officials said in a news release.

The state's investment "is building the public transportation system we need for a safer and more prosperous, equitable and environmentally sound future," CTC Director Toks Omishakin said in a statement.

The money represents nearly half of the roughly $474 million it will cost to widen the 55 between the 5 and 405 freeways. The remaining funding comes from other state and federal dollars and the half-cent Measure M sales tax collected in Orange County for transportation improvements.

Designing of the project is complete and construction is set to begin in June, Caltrans Spokesman Nathan Abler said.

The work will add a regular lane and carpool lane in each direction of the 55 between the 5 and 405, with the goal of easing congestion on the heavily used section.

Officials said the project, which also includes adding auxiliary lanes to help traffic better flow onto and off the freeway, will improve mobility and allow better access to jobs, healthcare and educational facilities and to the John Wayne Airport.

It could save drivers up to a minute per mile on that 4-mi. stretch and balance out traffic on nearby surface streets that commuters use now to avoid the clogged freeway, transportation officials have said.

On the improved road, officials expect approximately 16,000 more drivers during peak hours, as people move off those parallel streets. Currently, approximately 260,000 drivers take the major coastal connector daily, officials have said.

The Orange County Transportation Authority estimated the work would reduce congestion up to 41 percent, and result in money-saving benefits, including dodging $1.8 million in accident costs a year.

The total cost of the project's construction phase is expected to be approximately $258 million, according to an OCTA spokeswoman. The money allocated includes a $140 million award by the CTC that was approved for the project in December.

Approximately $16 million will go toward constructing an auxiliary lane between the northbound Dyer Road on-ramp and the Edinger Avenue off-ramp of the 55 Freeway "to reduce traffic delays, improve goods movement and improve safety," Caltrans officials said. That part of the work was originally proposed as a separate project, but was bundled into the 55 widening, Abler said.

The agency plans to award a contract for the construction in April, he said.

The project, now fully funded, is expected to be completed in 2026.

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