Construction on the $102-million Orange Freeway (State Route 57) Northbound Widening Project will begin this fall as officials, construction workers and business leaders gathered recently to celebrate the kickoff of the Orangethorpe to Lambert segment.

The Orange County Transportation Authority, in partnership with Caltrans, is sponsoring improvements to the SR-57, which will add a northbound lane from north of the SR-91 near Orangethorpe Avenue in Placentia to Lambert Road in Brea.

The project will also add traffic and merging lanes at various locations, reconfigure entrance and exit ramps, construct retaining walls and sound walls and standardize existing general purpose lanes and shoulder width. When completed, the project will include a continuous carpool lane on the northbound side that will allow motorists to enter and exit anywhere between Chapman Avenue to Lambert Road.

The project � which is slated for completion in 2014 � is the first of two taking place on SR-57. Next summer, construction will begin on a 3-mi northbound lane between Katella and Lincoln avenues in Anaheim.

OCTA says that although construction on the Orangethorpe to Lambert segment is coordinated to run seamlessly as one project, the segment will be managed by two different construction contractors.

On July 15, the construction bid opening for the Yorba Linda Boulevard to Lambert Road segment took place with C.C. Myers of Rancho Cordova coming in as the apparent low bidder. The construction bid for this segment was $28.9 million � more than $23.9 million lower than the engineer�s estimate of $52.8 million.

Caltrans opened bids July 22 on the Orangethorpe Avenue to Yorba Linda Boulevard segment of the northbound SR-57. The low bid is $28.6 million, which is $18.5 million or 39% below the engineer�s estimate of $47.1 million. Beador Construction from Corona is the apparent low bidder.

Caltrans is expected to select both contractors by mid- to late-August.