I-80 undergoing emergency repairs in Northern California ahead of winter
NYACK - The seasons are changing and Caltrans is working on I-80 to get the roads ready for the wet weather to come.
Caltrans said I-80 is ready for the winter, but some emergency repairs are still happening.
"This road takes a lot of abuse from trucks with the chains on it and wheels especially," said David Fogg who lives in Reno.
Last year's winter storms caused rutted roads up and down I-80.
"Those ruts have been in the road for a long time," said one truck driver who was traveling I-80 Tuesday. "You take your hands off the steering wheel and they'll steer it for you."
That is why in late September, Caltrans started doing emergency pavement and slab replacement on I-80 from Colfax to the Nevada stateline.
So why were these projects not prioritized earlier in the summer? Caltrans District 3 spokesperson John O'Connell said funding got pushed around to other projects. The $69.2 million project did not get approved until after Labor Day to avoid road closures during summer tourism.
"It is a major road and it needs to be repaired," said Hessam Noralahi who lives in San Jose.
So far, 13 miles between Colfax and Alta have been completed. Caltrans is fixing up a total of 70 miles in both directions.
"Going westbound a few days ago, there were a lot of lane closures," Fogg said.
Following last winter's record-breaking wet season, O'Connell said they will continue to use concrete instead of asphalt when paving the roads.
"There's really not much they can do differently unless we just hope that there is a less damaging storm season this year and the chains don't tear up the roads as much," O'Connell told CBS13.
Time will tell if Caltrans finishes all of the repairs before the wet weather hits.
"You got some ruts in the road right now that are really bad to where my truck is all over the place," said truck driver Doug Hammer.
Repairs or not, O'Connell said the roads are ready for the winter.
"Hopefully this winter will be a little bit kinder to us," he said. "We shall see, however."
Caltrans completed repaving I-80 between Auburn and Colfax during the summer and between Roseville and Rocklin in the spring. They were also very active on Highway 50 in repairing potholes in the Lake Tahoe area.
Now, crews are all hands on deck to smooth out I-80 in the higher elevations by mid-November.
"If it does start to rain and snow, we are going to just have to shut things down and pick up things again in the spring," said O'Connell.
