"It's a onetime short term pain, but then you will have the improvement," said CalTrans Construction Chief Mark Archuleta.
The pain Archuleta is referring to is the fact that on-ramps and off-ramps will be completely shut down for weeks at a time between the 5 Freeway and the 605 Freeway. The construction will start as early as Monday. The Fremont Avenue exit will be closed for 30 days, then the Del Mar Avenue exit closed for 42 days and the Baldwin Avenue closed for thirty days.
All together ten ramps will be closed, but fortunately not all at the same time.
"We've structured it in such a way that if a ramp is closed the next two ramps will be open," said Archuleta. "There will be place for people to go to detour around."
Drivers we spoke with say this is only going to make driving here even worse.
"This is my on ramp," Guy Wilson. "It affects me to where I have to take surface streets from East L.A. all the way to New Avenue or San Gabriel Boulevard. It's not worth it."
Art Alvarado is the marketing director for Papa John's Pizza. A new store right next to the Fremont off ramp opened just two weeks ago.
"The reason we picked this location is exposure from the freeway," said Alvarado. "It's going to severely impact us. The financial affect is unknown at this point. All we know is that that is where the business comes from. It's the freeway exit that generates most of our revenue."
CalTrans said they considered doing the work during night hours and weekends, but they feel it would only prolong the work and the pain.