Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
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From the Thursday 11-6 Palm Springs Desert Sun:

Lanes on both sides of the Riverside (91) Freeway will be shut down -- and connector bridges that link two inland freeways to the corridor will be completely closed -- for work on a railroad crossing this weekend.

Caltrans officials, along with representatives from the city of Riverside and California Highway Patrol, will formally announce the closures during a briefing at Olivewood Avenue and Panorama Road at noon Thursday.

Caltrans has dubbed the 56-hour closures the "Downtown 91 Weekend Crunch.' Motorists were expected to be warned to prepare for detours and travel delays.

According to state officials, the 91 will be narrowed from six to four lanes between Central Avenue and 14th Street beginning at 9 p.m. Friday.

Additionally, the northbound Interstate 215 connector to the 91 will be closed to all traffic from Friday night to early Monday morning. The eastbound Moreno Valley (60) Freeway transition to the 91 will also be closed for the duration -- with the exception of a five-hour window Sunday morning to facilitate the annual Mission Inn Run.

For east-bound traffic coming from Orange and Los Angeles County toward Perris, one may want to consider leaving earlier and getting off the 91 at Van Buren or Alessandro eastbound to the 215 southbound on Saturday... though that's not a bad idea any afternoon if you're trying to avoid the rush-hour jam-up at the 91/60/215 interchange near UC Riverside.  

According to Caltrans, the 10th Street onramp to the westbound 91 will be closed for the weekend work, and the CHP will be implementing "traffic breaks" on the westbound side of the freeway, forcing motorists to slow to a crawl or come to a full stop at 60-minute intervals as part of the ``crunch.'

The interruptions are necessary for crews working on the $248 million SR 91 HOV Project to complete pile-driving ahead of the installation of support beams for the new Pachappa railroad overcrossing.

The rail bridge had to be replaced to enable crews to add an extra lane along a six-mile corridor. The freeway widening effort got underway in early 2012 and is slated for completion the middle of next year.

I was on the 91 Freeway Thursday at 2:30PM and all Eastbound lanes were gridlocked for miles from the 15 Freeway. I want to go to the Nationals at Perris but this was not a good sight to see. My advise is leave real early or find another route. Avoid the 91 Freeway eastbound from LA/OC if you can.

91 eastbound to the 15 South to Cajalco, east to Perris

That is my normal route from OC. The 91/15 interchange can be gridlocked even at 11:00 in the morning with so many people going to Los Vegas, the mountains, the river, or a sprint car race. Does any one take the South route Ortegia Highway (?) and is it worth the trouble?

Take the 57 to the 60.  Much less traffic every day of the week.