Heads up to CA-bound DISers driving to Anaheim via I-10! ROAD CLOSURE

[VandVsmama]

Hi DIS gang!

I live in the Tucson area. We are close enough to California that we usually drive to Anaheim instead of flying. Usually, since we live in the Tucson metro area & since we have family in San Diego, we drive to Anaheim via I-8 and then head north to Anaheim on I-5.

Our next trip to DL is in October and originally, I was planning on skipping the I-8 route and going via I-10 the whole way since it would take off 30 min from the total driving time.

Well, based on yesterday's events, we will NOT be doing that! The road is closed. Southern California had MAJOR rain this past weekend and the rain washed out a section of a bridge on I-10 in the remote community of Desert Center (it's in the middle of nowhere).

I know that many folks here on the DIS boards drive to Anaheim like we do....people from Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and even folks from other states who are on major road trips.

YOU WILL NEED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE! They have no idea when the road will reopen. Both eastbound AND westbound traffic on I-10 at Desert Center is affected.

The detour if you're driving westbound on I-10 has you go through 29 Palms and for our drive from Tucson to Anaheim, to go through 29 Palms would add an extra 3 HOURS of driving time. No thanks! We're going to drive the I-8 route instead.

If you're driving from Utah, you might seriously want to consider going through Nevada and I-15 instead.

Here's a link to a Palm Springs newspaper's website that explains the detours --> http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2015/07/20/whats-next-interstate-10-bridge/30402757/

 

[Meriweather]

Oh poo......we're going in Oct.......thanks for the heads up. I will definitely keep an eye on that!

 

[Winnowill]

We're going 8/7-8/12. Guess we'll have to figure out a different route from Phoenix and back.

 

[Angrose]

I live in Norcal so this doesn't even effect me, but when I saw the news about this I immediately thought about all the Arizona Dis'ers who drive to DLR! I hope they can get this fixed quickly so you all don't have such a long detour, ugh!!

 

[Brenda Kim]

According to a California Dept of Transportation employee stated "Interstate 10 is closed completely and indefinitely,"......Thankfully no one was killed when it collapsed.

 

[Meriweather]

Glad no one was seriously injured, but that is a much used trucking route too.
I wonder how long to get a bypass operating.

 

[VandVsmama]

From what I've read on the southern California news reports about it, both directions were shut down because engineers need to inspect both sections of the bridge...even the one that is intact...because there are big concerns that the flash flood eroded enough of the wash's bank to undermine the support structure.

 

[Brenda Kim]

My brother is an OTR truck driver and this effects his TN to CA run, when he has to drop off in San Diego. Iwould think CA will move as fast as possible to repair the damage, but still they have to find the funds to do so and then put it out to bid. It will take some time rebuilding an entire bridge like that is not something that can be done quickly.

Also there is no quick route to by pass as the entire area out there has very few roads that Semi's can drive on.

 

[disneyfirsttimer18]

I live in Utah and honestly know of nobody who takes the 10 into Cali from Utah. No matter where you live in Utah, the fastest, easiest way is the 15.

 

[Winnowill]

My brother is an OTR truck driver and this effects his TN to CA run, when he has to drop off in San Diego. Iwould think CA will move as fast as possible to repair the damage, but still they have to find the funds to do so and then put it out to bid. It will take some time rebuilding an entire bridge like that is not something that can be done quickly.

Also there is no quick route to by pass as the entire area out there has very few roads that Semi's can drive on.

Most public entities, municipalities, counties and the like have engineering services contracted on an on-call basis for just these eventualities. I don't know whether this would be covered by CADOT or a county/city, but whichever engineering company has this on-call contract is likely already working on it, and a construction bid will probably be in place by the time the design is complete. This artery is just too important to languish in bureaucracy, even in California.

 

[Ofred]

Just came home on 10 to62 to177 to desert center added about a hour n 15 mins to my drive

 

[ten6mom]

http://www.dot.ca.gov/

looks like the roadway is scheduled to reopen Friday. Fingers crossed!

 

[Brenda Kim]

That is great news! I am guessing that the remaining bridge was found to be structurally sound and can open up the side of the bridge still remaining?

 

[starshine514]

That is great news! I am guessing that the remaining bridge was found to be structurally sound and can open up the side of the bridge still remaining?

Yes, my understanding is that they will be running one lane each way. We're going again mid-August and I'll be watching closely to figure out our route. I don't have an issue just taking the I-8 route (we also live in Tucson), but my sister was really looking forward to stopping at Daniel's Really Good Jerky in Quartzite. So, if the slowdown isn't super bad with it down to one lane, we'll probably take the I-10 route on the way there and stock up on cool sodas and jerky.

 

[luulu1999]

That is great news! I am guessing that the remaining bridge was found to be structurally sound and can open up the side of the bridge still remaining?

Yep it says needs minor work but they have strengthened it to where it will allow 2 way traffic on the bridge, still gonna be a slow down there and Im sure it will be a construction zone for a while but its better than driving hours out of the way!!

 

[Brenda Kim]

Yes, my understanding is that they will be running one lane each way. We're going again mid-August and I'll be watching closely to figure out our route. I don't have an issue just taking the I-8 route (we also live in Tucson), but my sister was really looking forward to stopping at Daniel's Really Good Jerky in Quartzite. So, if the slowdown isn't super bad with it down to one lane, we'll probably take the I-10 route on the way there and stock up on cool sodas a jerky.

I love that store!! I don't know if it is still there but I used to also stop at this outdoor store to buy rocks at. The cheapest place to get wonderful ornamental rocks and also picked up some smaller pieces to make jewelry with.