Jefferson Street interchange closure continues
Indio’s Interstate 10 Jefferson interchange was set to reopen late Monday afternoon after Friday rain delayed work to take traffic onto the new bridge.
Until then, motorists will need to continue using the same detours they had been using all of last week.
In addition, the eastbound exit at Jefferson may be closed to traffic Monday as the new bridge is readied for traffic.
Motorists should plan to use Monroe Street or Washington to exit or enter the freeway instead of Indio Boulevard.
“It’s a nightmare, Lina Saleh said.
Friday afternoon, motorists trying to get to the other side of the valley from Indio hit a road block.
“You basically have to go all the way around to Bermuda Dunes off Washington where you then hit traffic a mile long,” Gloria Hernandez said.
The Jefferson Street Interchange, a main route getting in and around the Coachella Valley, was due to be reopened as of 4 p.m. Friday but heavy rain kept the road closed.
“I always take that road to go to Rancho Mirage and now that its closed I have to take Fred Waring, Washington turn and there’s a lot of traffic so they need to open it ASAP,” Saleh said.
This past week, crews have been working day and night to get part of the new bridge open by its deadline. However, crews had to call it quits until the weather cleared up.
“We were going to open it today, however we can’t stripe the new portion that was going to be open on wet asphalt,” said Dennis Green a subcontractor with the Riverside County Department of Transportation.
The week-long project closed off parts of the Interstate 10 nightly, as well as on-ramps for the entire week.
As cameras were rolling, some motorists were caught ignoring signs saying the road was closed and ended up putting themselves almost in the middle of traffic. It’s an ongoing battle drivers in the area will have to maneuver their way around until crews can resume work Monday, if the ground dries up in time.
Green says the new portion of the bridge will be opened to the public on Monday.
