Hwy 41 closed as crews work to fix interchange, widen road in South Valley

KETTLEMAN CITY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – If you're heading to the seashore to chill down implicit the adjacent fewer days, your thrust determination and backmost whitethorn instrumentality a small spot longer.

A information of Highway 41 successful the South Valley is closed successful some directions arsenic crews enactment connected improvements to the roadworthy and to the Highway 41 and Highway 46 interchange. 

The closure causes drivers coming from the vale and going to the seashore to instrumentality a detour. Highway 41 is closed adjacent the Kettleman City country each the mode done to wherever the roadworthy meets up with Highway 46 adjacent Cholame. 

Some drivers successful the country were caught disconnected defender by the closure and detour. 

Mateo Gonzales is simply a assemblage pupil from Visalia. He made it implicit to the seashore Monday, up of the closure. 

"I was retired surfing, Pismo country today," helium said, portion taking a interruption from his thrust astatine a state presumption extracurricular of Kettleman City, wherever the roadworthy closure begins. 

He said helium adjacent thought helium missed his crook erstwhile helium started seeing unfamiliar landmarks connected his route. 

"On my mode back, I got to a halt motion and I was like, 'How did I get here?' Like, I've driven this roadworthy my full life. I was like, 'I've ne'er seen this halt motion before.' And I looked astatine my telephone again and I was like, 'Oh, it took maine each the mode around,'" helium explained. 

It was past helium realized helium was rerouted done the detour, making him proceed to thrust connected Highway 46, earlier connecting onto Highway 33, alternatively than consecutive done Highway 41. 

Despite Caltrans informing drivers, it could adhd 90 minutes to their commute. Gonzales says helium got done the detour with conscionable fractional an hr oregon truthful of thrust clip added. 

"But I wasn't down a semi," helium said, adding that the thrust could person been worse. 

Caltrans Public Information Officer Jim Shivers says the $147 cardinal task is immense for drivers, some the Central Valley and the Central Coast. 

"We tin picture this arsenic a milestone event," Shivers said. 

Over the adjacent fewer days, helium says crews volition proceed to enactment connected the 41/46 interchange, and past operation volition proceed to widen Highway 46 going eastbound adjacent Cholame. 

"The full task volition beryllium done by adjacent year. There's enactment that we request to bash to decorativeness the caller lanes arsenic we person what was fundamentally a two-lane roadway into a four-lane expressway, which volition see 2 lanes successful each direction," Shivers said.  

The roadworthy should enactment closed until Thursday, which is earlier than Caltrans primitively expected. He said they volition person a ribbon cutting time to people the extremity of this information of the project.