California State Route 73

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Route 73

Length:

15 mi (24 km)

Formed:

Major cities:

Newport Beach
Costa Mesa
San Juan Capistrano
Laguna Niguel
Irvine
Laguna Hills

Direction:

North-South

JUNCTION	POSTMILE
I-5	ORA ???
SR-133	ORA 16.75
SR-55	ORA R6.58
I-405	ORA R7.81
California State Routes Unconstructed - Deleted - Scenic
< Route 72	Route 74 >

State Route 73 runs from Interstate 405 to Interstate 5 through the San Joaquin Hills. From its northern terminus, the first three miles of the highway are named as the Corona Del Mar Freeway. The next 12 miles of the 15 mile highway are operated by the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency where it becomes a toll road named as the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor. State Route 73 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 in San Juan Capistrano, California. There are no HOV lanes currently, but the medians have reserved spots for them if the need arises in the future for their construction.

1 History
2 Additional landmarks
3 Toll rates
4 Exit list
5 State law
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] History

Most of 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.

Many commonly mistake all of State Route 73 as a toll road. However, this misconception is untrue. From its northbound terminus heading southbound, the first three miles of State Route 73 make up the entire Corona Del Mar Freeway. State Route 73's 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. Heading southbound, State Route 73 becomes a designated toll road immediately after the Jamboree/MacArthur ramp and remains so until its southern terminus at I-5. Though the next ramp heading southbound (Bison Avenue) is part of the toll road, it is toll-free, as well as the first ramp heading northbound from the southern terminus (Greenfield Avenue).

Design and construction of the highway cost a total of $800 million dollars. The design and construction 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. A joint venture led by Kiewit Pacific Co., a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation, completed this project.

State Route 73's toll road was the first to be financed with tax-exempt bonds on a stand-alone basis including construction and environmental risk. Since its inception, FasTrak patrons riding the toll road could travel the entire distance without stopping or even slowing down as their tolls are collected electronically by overhead radios reading the transponder mounted on the vehicle.

[edit] 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).

State Route 73, highlighted in red

[edit] 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 ^[1]

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

[edit] Exit list

A list of exit for the freeway and expressway sections, south to north

Postmile^[2]	Municipality	#^[3]	Destinations	Notes
ORA 10.34	San Juan Capistrano		Interstate 5 South - San Diego	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	El Toro Road; State Route 133 - Laguna Canyon Road	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	State Route 55 north	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
ORA R26.56		17B	State Route 55 south	Exit 17A southbound
ORA R27.28		17C	Bear Street	Exit 17B southbound
ORA R27.76		18A	Interstate 405 North - Long Beach	Northbound left exit and southbound entrance
ORA R27.76		18B	Fairview Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance