Long Beach names Ortiz contractor for traffic project

Long Beach names Ortiz contractor for traffic project The port of Long Beach named Ortiz Enterprises Inc. as prime contractor for its $34 million roadway construction project designed to ease traffic congestion along Ocean Boulevard on Terminal Island.
   Irvine-based Ortiz will start construction in January, with completion scheduled for February 2007.
   When the project is completed, motorists using Ocean Boulevard will be able to travel non-stop east and west on an elevated roadway over the intersections with the Terminal Island Freeway and Henry Ford Avenue.
   New on- and off-ramps will provide access to and from Ocean Boulevard and the Terminal Island Freeway and Henry Ford Avenue. Also, a future project by the port of Los Angeles will remove a final traffic signal at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Navy Way, which will make Ocean Boulevard a throughway between the Gerald Desmond and Vincent Thomas bridges.
   Ortiz will begin construction of a detour road parallel to Ocean Boulevard during the first six to eight months of the project. The detour road will maintain the same capacity as the current Ocean Boulevard route.
   The port has said that most work requiring lane closures will be conducted between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., although some weekend closures will be required during the construction. The port will ensure that alternate routes will be widely publicized in advance, it said.