Traffic improvements that will come from the North Irvine
Transportation Mitigation (NITM) agreement promise to keep
residents moving. Good planning and coordination between the
city and The Irvine Company ensure that circulation improvements
needed to keep traffic flowing smoothly will occur in pace
with – or in advance of – the development of new communities.
With this goal in mind, in 2003 the Irvine City Council adopted
NITM- a comprehensive transportation program that will help
minimize traffic impacts as long-anticipated growth takes
place in North Irvine. The NITM program:
- Requires that periodic traffic studies be conducted to reevaluate transportation needs and identify where to widen roads, add lanes or traffic signals, widen freeway ramps and make other improvements to prevent traffic problems as new communities are developed.
- Provides approximately $135 million in developer fees to fund a wide range of circulation improvements in the area. As new neighborhoods are built in Irvine to meet the demand for housing near job centers such as Irvine Spectrum, these transportation enhancements will effectively handle traffic in the city and adjacent areas.
As a key participant in the innovative program, The Irvine
Company will pay nearly $40million in NITM fees to the city
to accommodate traffic associated with the new village.
Among the measures that will be taken to improve traffic flow
in this area are interchange improvements at Trabuco Road and
the SR 133 Toll Road, upgrading the Sand Canyon/I-5 interchange
and the intersection improvements at Jeffrey/Walnut and
Jeffrey/Irvine Center Drive.
The process of planning Irvine's circulation system began
even before the city was incorporated in 1971. This is
an integral part of the Irvine Ranch Master Plan,
which projects traffic volumes that will result from
planned growth and phases in transportation improvements
as needed.
This long-range planning, combined with the city's commitment
to keeping motorists moving as housing needs are address,
has made Irvine's road system one of the most sophisticated
in the state.
NITM isn't the only major transportation-improvement program
at work improving circulation and traffic flow throughout
Irvine. The city ahs already benefited from $84.4 million
in projects funded by Measure M, a half-cent local
transportation sales tax approved by Orange County voters
for a 20-year period ending in 2011.
In November 2006, Orange County voters approved The
Transportation Investment Plan for the Renewed Measure M –
which extends the sales tax for another 30 years. It
assures an additional $150 million in street and intersection
improvements that will have a direct impact to the city.
In addition, freeway lane and interchange improvements will
benefit Irvine, including:
- Adding new lanes to the San Diego Freeway (I-405) through Irvine from SR-55 to the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5)
- Building new lanes and improving the interchanges on the I-5 freeway between SR-55 and SR-133. This segment of I-5 is the major route serving Irvine
- Adding new lanes to SR-55 between the Garden Grove Freeway (SR-22) and the I-405
- Extending Jeffrey from Portola to the Foothill Transportation Corridor (SR-241)
- Widening Campus from University to Jamboree
- Improving intersections on Jamboree at Alton/Barranca/Main/Tustin Ranch
- Widening Main from Red Hill to Harvard
- Widening Barranca from San Diego Creek to SR-55
- Widening MacArthur from Main to SR-55
|