Highway 62 connector to I-10 back open
A big rig truck that was just too big to be on Highway 62 got stuck and shutdown the I-10 onramp for nearly 20 hours, according to the The Desert Hills Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility. It should’ve never been on the connector bridge.
The Oklahoma-based renewable energy services company FairWind was headed to Palm Springs to work on wind mills when it got stuck on the 62 around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and backed up traffic.
“I was in a truck following behind it. It was going good. In a split second, it turned bad,” said Buddy Phillips who works for FairWind and operates the aerial platform the truck was carrying.
The California Highway Patrol said the truck driver drove the route he was given. The problem for the oversize load was the truck’s permit information and the route were wrong. The big rig was 15 feet too long.
“The company had traveled outside of the parameters of the permit that was given to them obtained through the Department of Transportation,” said CHP officer John Quintero.
The company faces a permit violation. CalTrans is taking over the investigation.
Update: CHP said Highway 62 is back open as of 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Crews were clearing traffic cones out of the roadway and traffic was expected to start flowing again for the first time since midnight.
The closure came after the eastbound connector bridge to Interstate 10 was blocked after a big rig truck, hauling a crane, became stuck while passing over a tight-winding bridge.
High desert residents headed into the Coachella Valley were facing detours and reroutes throughout the day.
Traffic to westbound Interstate 10 was not impacted.
But motorists headed toward the Coachella Valley from Yucca Valley and the High Desert were forced to detour off Highway 62 using Indian Canyon Drive or Dillon Road. Then had to re-enter the freeway eastbound at Indian Canyon.
The California Highway Patrol said it took much of the day to remove the truck from the bridge.
The CHP said the truck’s driver was headed into the Coachella Valley overnight when he tried to pass through the tight and winding bridge.
The big rig then got stuck. No injuries were reported.
