Community Corner
Hours To Access Damaged SR-74 Highway Expanded
Open, unrestricted access to the 74 is not likely until mid-summer, officials say.
MOUNTAIN CENTER, CA — Beginning this week, the number of hours available to access a stretch of state Route 74 between Hemet and Mountain Center that was severely damaged during a winter storm has increased..
According to Caltrans, as of Tuesday, the 15-mile segment of Highway 74 is accessible starting at 4 a.m.
During Easter weekend, Caltrans opened the previously closed segment for limited travel, under escort, between 5 and 8 a.m., and then again between 6 p.m. and midnight daily.
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According to agency spokesman Shane Massoud, the new morning access time will offer commuters a four-hour block in which to make the slow journey between Hemet and Mountain Center, east- or westbound.
The evening access hours will not change. Outside of these hours, the full closure remains in force.
Find out what's happening in Murrietafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"We're doing this for people who have to travel a little farther to get to work in the morning," Massoud told City News Service.
Caltrans pilot vehicles continue to guide motorists along the two-lane corridor, where the speed limit is 25 mph.
Massoud said open, unrestricted access to the 74 is not likely until mid-summer. There remain at least 10 places on the highway where extensive repairs are continuing.
"We're replacing culverts, and that involves tearing out the whole roadway bed, so it's major," Massoud said.
The California Highway Patrol closed the 15-mile segment on the night of Feb. 14 after downpours caused road surfaces to buckle inward, leaving numerous breaks and major sinkholes. The worst damage was at the Strawberry Creek crossing, about three miles west of Mountain Center.
Burnsville, Minnesota-based Ames Construction Inc. was hired -- at a cost of nearly $10 million -- under a Caltrans emergency work order to repair the pitted portions of Highway 74, as well as Highway 243 between Banning and Mountain Center.
Last month, a nearly 10-mile segment of Highway 243 just north of Idyllwild was reopened after a seven-week closure stemming from the Valentine's Day storm.
More than two dozen locations on the 243 were damaged, while over 40 spots along Highway 74 sustained damage in the storm.
The stretch of Route 243 between Idyllwild and Banning remains entirely shut down.
— By City News Service
