Interstate 10 Closure Strands Wildomar Woman
Scheduled roadwork to fix potholes on the freeway between Hargrave and Sunset commenced late Saturday, but Caltrans was unable to finish the work as planned, a California Highway Patrol dispatcher said.
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Click here to read what Caltrans had to say Monday about the traffic jam.
A Wildomar woman was among the thousands stuck in traffic because closures on Interstate 10 in Banning have stalled motorists.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the unscheduled closures -- prompted by roadwork delays -- could continue until midnight.
Traffic was backed up to Indian Avenue in Palm Springs, according to the CHP.
Kristie Riddle of Wildomar said she started out Sunday morning -- driving from Johnson Valley off Highway 247 near Lucerne Valley in San Bernardino County, came down Highway 62 and got on I-10 westbound about 10:30 a.m.
"I'm just trying to get home to Wildomar," she said as she drove at a snail's pace across the overpass. She said she had to get off the 10 in Cabazon to use a restroom "and I've been stuck an hour just to get back on the 10."
Caltrans crews began scheduled repair of potholes at 11:30 p.m. Saturday on the westbound 10 between Hargrave Street and Sunset Avenue, the dispatcher said.
They were unable to finish the work as planned though, and the closure continued past noon Sunday, the dispatcher said.
Three westbound lanes were closed and one westbound lane was open, the dispatcher said. Backups on the westbound 10 were stretching east to Main Street in Cabazon, the dispatcher said.
Some motorists stuck in traffic in Cabazon about 3:30 p.m. said they had been trying to get through the San Gorgonio Pass on Interstate 10 four hours or more.
To read more about the traffic snarl, please click here.
Carmen Ponce de Leon
5:52 am on Monday, February 13, 2012
I was also there yesterday in that mess. I left 29 Palms at 1:00pm tthinking I would be home in Murrieta by 3:00, but I did 'nt get home until almost 7:oopm. I thought there was an accident so I called 511 for traffic information, but they did'nt have any information about the snarl. Then I turned the radio to get traffic information and heard cal trans was working on hwy 10 without prior notice. As you can imagin there were alot of upset drivers driving crazy just to get through the mess.
Jesse McAllister
2:37 pm on Monday, February 13, 2012
There is no excuse for this. CalTrans is obviously mismanaged and wasting taxpayers money. The job may have been needed, but there are many other ways to do it without making people wait 10 hours to work throught the construction zone. Heads should roll for this one starting with too many overpaid CalTrans supervisors!