Weekend closures planned on southbound 605 Freeway in Downey

The intersection of The 605 and 5 Freeways looking south along the border of Santa Fe Springs and Downey on Wednesday, August 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Caltrans is conducting a fourth 55-hour extended weekend lane closure operation for roadway upgrading work on the southbound San Gabriel River (605) freeway in the Downey and Norwalk areas through Monday morning.

The closures will occur at various times along the southbound 605 Freeway between the Santa Ana (5) Freeway in Downey and Firestone Boulevard in Norwalk, according to Caltrans.

There will be a complete closure of the southbound 605 Freeway closures Sunday night. During the remainder of the weekend there will only be lane reductions.

Other closures, which are subject to change, are scheduled as follows:

On southbound the 605 Freeway from the 5 Freeway to Firestone Boulevard:

-- All southbound lanes will be closed until 4:01 a.m. Saturday to install k-rail and temporary striping.

-- Two southbound lanes will be open to traffic from 4:01 a.m. Saturday to 11 p.m. Sunday.

-- All southbound lanes will be closed again from 11 p.m. Sunday to 5:01 a.m. Monday to remove k-rail and re-stripe the freeway.

-- All southbound lanes will reopen to the public by 5:01 a.m. on Monday.

Various freeway connectors and ramps also will be affected as follows:

-- The northbound and southbound 5 Freeway connectors to southbound 605 Freeway will be closed until 5:01 a.m. Monday.

-- The Florence Avenue and Telegraph Road on-ramps to southbound 605 Freeway will be closed until 6:01 a.m. Monday.

Traffic will be detoured via local arterial routes during the hours of the full freeway closure.

This affected section of the 605 Freeway carries more than 250,000 vehicles per day on average, Caltrans reported.

Motorists were urged to avoid the area during construction times, and use alternate freeways where possible, including southbound Harbor (110) Freeway, the Long Beach (710) Freeway and state Route 57.

Fourteen more extended weekend closures are scheduled in conjunction with this segment of the "Super 605 Freeway Corridor Improvement Project," at various times, extending into 2025. Dates for those closures are not yet available, yet.

This work is part of the Super 605 Freeway Corridor projects will rehabilitate the 605 Freeway from Long Beach to the San Gabriel Valley. A total of $260 million in construction costs is funded with $238 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and more than $20.5 million from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

For more information about transportation and other infrastructure projects funded with state and federal investments, visit RebuildingCA.ca.gov and Build.gov.ca.