Nifty nameplates are coming to bridges along 405 Freeway
QOn the 405 Freeway in Fountain Valley, I see there's a new type of sign showing that Slater Avenue is the street you are driving beneath. Why are the names not on all of the other bridges? They all have insets for where the signs are to go. I think the signs will be quite nice when the 405 project is completed and will set a new standard for bridges.
AHonk agrees, Dave – the Slater one is real spiffy. Much better than just stenciled names on bridge columns, which Caltrans crews use to ID the bridges from down on the freeway.
Dave's co-pilot, a daughter, was kind enough to snap a photo for us. It shows “SLATER” in caps on a tan background with three artistic dots on each side.
Honk is weird, in a good way. When driving, he likes to ponder things along the roadside and will enjoy these signs, thinking about the streets and what they hold.
For the ongoing widening and improvement project, 18 bridges will have been rebuilt. About half are open to traffic again, with the rest under construction.
Each bridge will get such a sign, said Megan Abba, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which is overseeing the 405 project.
The sign is among the last chores for each bridge.
“Construction crews are (first) focused on completing major work that will improve drivers' commutes, like opening bridges to traffic,” she said in an email. “Once those main priorities are addressed, they shift their focus (to) smaller details, like installing the name plates.
“The Slater Avenue bridge was the first bridge to open to traffic and then get those finishing touches.”
Honk is a rather curious fellow, so he asked why these signs are being added.
“In addition to looking nice, the nameplates provide a service to drivers to help them identify their whereabouts at a glance,” Abba said. “This 16-mile segment of I-405 is one of the most heavily traveled stretches of highway in the nation, and the nameplates may be especially helpful for drivers who are not as familiar with the area.”
The stenciled names and identifying numbers, often difficult to read for drivers going (hopefully) freeway speeds, will still be added to the bridges' columns.
QI purchased a hybrid vehicle last year and was under the impression that I would get a discount or a credit on my vehicle-registration renewal, but I didn't. Was I wrong in thinking I would?
AHonk is afraid so, Peggy.
“The DMV does not offer discounts/credits on registration fees for hybrid vehicles,” Angelica Martinez, a spokeswoman for the agency, told him in an email.
But, she added, the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project does “offers rebates for some zero-emissions vehicles as well as plugin hybrids.”
That program is administered by the California Air Resources Board; for information, go to this agency's website and punch in the project name in the search bar.
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