Westbound 210 Freeway at the 605 in Irwindale to be shut down for 5 full days
A major stretch of the 210 Freeway in Irwindale will be closed for a full five days next week, and Caltrans wants commuters to have plenty of advance notice.
Repairs of the 210 bridge hinge over the San Gabriel River will require a 126-hour closure of the westbound 210 Freeway in the Irwindale area that will start July 20 at 11 p.m. and is expected to last through July 26 at 4 a.m.
The westbound lanes of the 210 Freeway will be fully closed from Irwindale Avenue up to the 605 Freeway. The eastbound side will be shrunk down to three lanes in both directions between the 605 Freeway and Irwindale Avenue. The Irwindale on- and off-ramps, the westbound 210 Freeway's connectors to the 605 Freeway, and the Mt. Olive on-ramp to the eastbound 210 Freeway will also be shut down during the closure.
Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol are anticipating the closure will cause major delays, and are urging drivers to consider working from home during the closure. And if driving is absolutely necessary, taking alternate routes like the 10 or 60 freeways, or using public transportation like Metro, which extended its discounts through the end of the year.
"We're going to have to go different ways and make time for that during our commute in going places, so it's not fun," Arcadia resident Rachel Archuleta said.
Archuleta was one of many shoppers and who take the 210 to get to Costco in Azusa. With closures set to go into effect next weekend, she and others are made sure they get their shopping done this week.
Catherine Mitchell, a resident of Pasadena, told CBSLA Reporter Rachel Kim that she will be taking Huntington Drive or Foothill Boulevard when the closures take effect.
The manager of Redwood Pizza, on Huntington Drive in Duarte, told Kim she is hoping that the traffic will bring in more business.
"Definitely jumping off the freeway, it'll probably even cause more traffic to us, right?," Becky Borger said. "People stopping by saying, 'hey you know what, we're just grabbing dinner on the way home because we're on the streets for so long.'"
