Lead Presenter:  Jeff Mills | Director of Capital Project Delivery | Orange County Transportation Authority

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Presentation Description

This presentation will focus on the development and construction of the $2.2 billion I-405 Improvement Project in Orange County, California, including the 405 Express Lanes.

The Orange County Transportation Authority, in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation, opened all lanes on the I-405 Improvement Project on December 1, 2023. The opening of one new regular lane in each direction and the 405 Express Lanes provides a faster and more reliable commute for the hundreds of thousands of drivers who traverse this stretch of freeway each day. The project is expected to improve travel times along the 16-mile stretch of freeway and accommodate an expected growth in employment, population and housing throughout the region.

The project created the 405 Express Lanes between SR-73 in Costa Mesa and I-605 at the Orange County border with Los Angeles County, offering options to carpoolers to travel for free and solo drivers the choice to speed up their commute for a toll. Operated by OCTA, the 405 Express Lanes is two lanes in each direction in the center of the freeway. All vehicles are required to have a FasTrak transponder and a valid account with any toll agency in California to enter the 405 Express Lanes.

The project also added one regular lane in each direction of I-405 between Costa Mesa and Seal Beach and made improvements to local streets, freeway on- and off-ramps and reconstructed 18 bridges that include new sidewalks and bike lanes.

Speaker Biography

Mr. Mills is the Director of Capital Project Delivery for the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). In this role, he leads, manages and oversees the planning, development, design, and construction implementation of complex capital projects in the areas of highways, rail and transit systems. He works in partnership with many other public agencies involved in the development of OCTA’s projects and his department oversees teams of private consultants and contractors who are delivering these important projects in Orange County. Prior to his current role, Mr. Mills was OCTA’s senior program manager responsible for developing and delivering the $2.2 billion I-405 Improvement Design-Build Project and the $580 million OC Streetcar project.

Prior to joining OCTA, Mr. Mills was a Project Manager in the private consulting sector and delivered several complex highway projects. His design-build experience includes the I-15 Reconstruction in Salt Lake City, the Orange Line in Los Angeles, the SR-22 HOV Lane Project in Orange County and the SR-91 Improvement Design-Build Project in Riverside County. Additionally, Jeff has been involved in many other significant planning and final design projects in Southern California, including the I-5 Gateway Project in Orange County and the Schuyler Heim Bridge Replacement in the Port of Long Beach. During his 18-year career in the private consulting sector, his assignments and responsibilities were in the area of project delivery. 

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