California State Route 73

State Route 73, also called the Corona Del Mar Freeway and the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor, is a 15 mile (24 km), 6-lane tollway that runs from Interstate 405 to Interstate 5 through the San Joaquin Hills. It runs approximately parallel to the Pacific Coast Highway and the San Diego Freeway. Its north terminus is Interstate 405 in Costa Mesa, California near Fairview Avenue. It then proceeds through the San Joaquin Hills and reaches its southern terminus of Interstate 5. There are no HOV lanes currently, but the medians have reserved spots if the need arises in the future for their construction.

History

State Route 73 is a limited-access toll highway designed to reduce congestion on arterials in Orange County, the Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1), Interstate 5, and Interstate 405 by providing a direct route into Orange County through the San Joaquin Hills. Its previous alignment had the freeway portion end at MacArthur Boulevard, and the CA-73 designation ran along MacArthur south to meet Route 1 in Corona del Mar.

Design and construction of the highway cost a total of $790 million dollars, with the total cost of the highway being $1.4 billion. The design and contruction was overseen by the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agencies, or SJHTCA, an agency formed in 1986 for the express purpose of designing the tollway. In the end, State Route 73 included 10 interchanges, 68 bridges, 725 000 square feet (67,000 m²) of retaining walls, and 32 million cubic yards (24,000,000 m³) of excavation at completion. Construction was divided into four different sections, each with its own management system and quality control. The contracting and construction firm hired for the project was Kiewit Bros.

Highway 73 was the first toll road to be financed with tax-exempt bonds on a stand-alone basis including construction and environmental risk. It also sports an innovative barrier-free electronic toll collection, with toll collection booths placed at the exit ramps instead of on the main highway.

Additional landmarks

Route 73 passes straight through Crystal Cove State Park and provides easy access to University of California, Irvine through the Bison Ave. exit. The freeway also runs along the South boundary of Orange County John Wayne Airport (IATA Airport Code SNA).

Image:State Route 73.jpg|State Route 73, highlighted in red Image:CA_73.gif|73 through San Joaquin Hills Image:CA_73_Tollbooth.gif|Toll booth at the northbound onramp at Bonita Canyon Drive

Toll rates

The tolls on SR-73 begin only after the Bison Ave. exit in the Southward direction, and in the northward direction there is a toll in effect from Interstate 5 (the terminus) up until Bison Ave. Route 73 also takes advantage of the Fastrak system, offering commuters savings by providing a discounted toll at each exit. The following table lists the tolls at each of the tolled exits, both with and without Fastrak.

Effective July 1 2005

Toll Booth	Toll (without FasTrak)	Toll (with FasTrak)
Bonita Canyon Drive Southbound Exit	$0.75	$0.50
Newport Coast Drive Southbound Exit	$1.50	$1.25
CATALINA VIEW TOLL PLAZA Price assumes 2-axle automobile.	Peak: $4.25 Off-Peak: $3.75 Weekends: $3.50	Peak: $3.50 Off-Peak: $3.00 Weekends: $2.75
El Toro/Laguna Canyon Road Northbound Exit	$1.75	$1.50
Aliso Creek Road Northbound Exit	$1.50	$1.25
La Paz Road/Moulton Parkway Northbound Exit	$1.25	$1.00

Exit list

A list of exit for the freeway and expressway sections, south to north Interstate 5 South - San Diego State Route 133 - Laguna Canyon Road State Route 55 north State Route 55 south Interstate 405 North - Long Beach

PostmileJanuary 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways	Municipality	#Cal-NExUS Interchange Exit Numbering	Destinations	Notes
ORA 10.34	San Juan Capistrano		Southbound exit and northbound entrance
ORA 11.76	Laguna Hills	2	Greenfield Drive
ORA 13.40	Laguna Niguel	3	La Paz Road; Moulton Parkway	Tolled northbound exit
ORA 14.39		4	Aliso Creek Road	Tolled northbound exit
ORA 15.25		5	Glenwood Drive; Pacific Park Drive	Currently only southbound exit and northbound entrance
ORA 16.25 ORA 16.75	Laguna Beach	6	Tolled northbound exit
Catalina View Toll Plaza (toll in both directions)
ORA 21.53	Irvine	11	Newport Coast Drive	Tolled southbound exit
ORA 22.50		12	Bonita Canyon Drive	Tolled southbound exit
ORA 23.46		13	Bison Avenue
End toll road, begin freeway
ORA 23.82	Irvine	14	MacArthur Blvd	Exit 14A Southbound; Served as the original route of SR-73 before the construction of the tollway
ORA R24.67	Newport Beach	14B	University Drive	Southbound exit, and northbound entrance (via MacArthur Blvd)
ORA 24.78		15 (SB)	Jamboree Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
ORA 25.45		15 (NB)	Birch Street; Bristol Street	Northbound exit only
ORA 25.58		16	Campus Drive; Irvine Ave	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
ORA R26.56	Costa Mesa	17A	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
ORA R26.56		17B	Exit 17A southbound
ORA R27.28		17C	Bear Street	Exit 17B southbound
ORA R27.76		18A	Northbound left exit and southbound entrance
ORA R27.76		18B	Fairview Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance

State law

Legal Definition of Route 73: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 373

References

External links

Toll roads in California | California state highways | California Freeway and Expressway System

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