Hours-long closure after deadly I-10 crash renews search for solutions to divert traffic
The California Highway Patrol shut down an 8-mile stretch of eastbound Interstate 10 in Whitewater on Sunday for eight hours after a crash that left three people dead and six others injured.
Police said there wasn't a seatbelt restraint system for each occupant in one of the vehicles.
Captain Gil Campa stepped in as commander of the CHP San Gorgonio Pass Area in March. Since then, he’s seen two fatal accidents in that same pass area.
"For those that are familiar, from Main Street down to Haugen Lehman Way, there are no off-ramps," Campa said.
Campa says he’s spoken to Caltrans and local officials about identifying alternate routes to help alleviate traffic in that area when there's a crash.
"Potentially insert some off-ramps if you want to call that between Main and Haugen Lehmann to allow traffic that's up on that main line in that collision traffic to exit off on the railroad, which is that perimeter road that runs south of the 10 freeway when folks are going eastbound," Campa said.
However, when we reached out to Caltrans about potential plans for alternate routes they said in part:
“Caltrans oversees work only on state routes, and our freeways, meaning work on alternate routes would fall outside our jurisdiction, this would have to be planned and managed through other agencies”
"And when you speak to Caltrans and other local officials about creating alternate routes, maybe some off-ramps, what's the general response?" News Channel 3's Bianca Ventura asked Campa.
Campa responded, "It's there, we're all on the same page. With everything, it's just a matter of identifying the funding sources to obviously everything. It costs money. "
