Construction reduces traffic on I-15 south to two lanes

BARSTOW • Motorists traveling south on Interstate 15 may find traffic reduced to two lanes and possibly one lane between Barstow Road and L Street as the California Department of Transportation finishes a $2 million road project.

The California Department of Transportation is in the middle of a resurfacing project on the southbound side of Interstate 15, said Darin Cooke, a Cal-Trans spokesperson. Construction began Oct. 5 and is estimated to be completed by Nov. 18. Workers are also installing guard rails along the median.  Currently two lanes of traffic are open, but at times traffic has been reduced to one lane, he said. CalTrans has been using the southbound L Street exit as a detour.

Thursday not even one lane of traffic was open in that area when Fort Irwin Public Affairs Officer John Wagstaffe headed home around 4:30 p.m. So many motorists decided to take Old Highway 58 or Irwin Road to the Lenwood Road or L Street on-ramps that traffic was congested most of the way through Barstow, he said.

“Even Main Street was fairly bumper to bumper from First Street down to Home Depot,” Wagstaffe said, adding that it added 30 minutes to his daily commute from the fort to his home in Apple Valley. “That’s the worst I’ve seen it in my four years working at Fort Irwin.”

When George Barak, the manager of Brownies Liquor Market on Highway 58, got off work Thursday the freeway was so bad there was a long line of cars on First Street going towards Main Street, he said. He said he usually takes Main Street to the L Street on-ramp to bypass the construction.

“I (saw) the traffic once I got on the freeway from the East Main on-ramp and traffic was really backed up,” he said. “After that I learned my lesson not to go that route again.”

Even though the closure of the southbound side of the freeway Thursday created problems, Wagstaffe said he hasn’t heard many complaints when there are two lanes open on the highway.

“I thought it would be terrible, but it hasn’t been too bad,” he said. “Traffic flows through there pretty decently.”
There have been no calls or complaints about the recent construction to Cal-Trans, Cooke said. California Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Taj Johnson could not be reached Friday.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com