ORANGE

Caltrans is reducing the speed limit to 55 mph in a construction zone on the Costa Mesa Freeway between the Garden Grove and Riverside freeways beginning Monday. The normal limit is 65 mph. “It’s an effort to improve the safety of not only motorists but also the construction workers,” said Rose Orem, a Caltrans spokeswoman. “It increases [drivers’] awareness and improves their response time if they’re driving more cautiously and at a slower pace.”

The road work is part of a three-year, $118-million project that includes adding one lane in each direction on the Costa Mesa Freeway, widening its existing lanes and smoothing traffic flow at the Garden Grove Freeway interchange.