I-80 draws complaints but work moving along
By Danny Bernardini
Posted: 07/15/2009
Contrast is shown between finished and unfinished freeway paving on Interstate 80 near Lagoon Valley Road. Construction is scheduled to be finished later this month. (Gilberto Ramirez / The Reporter)
During the past few years, guest speakers of the Solano Transportation Authority have regularly complained about trips across the rough-and-tumble terrain of Interstate 80 in the county.
Those gripes have all but disappeared lately as paving projects continue to roll along, transforming the highway that was once a collection of patchwork fixes dotted with holes and cracks.
"It's been quiet. The main thing is the suspension on their tires were getting hammered," said Daryl Halls, executive director of STA. "I've been driving it this week and (road crews) seem like they've been moving. Caltrans is continuing to move forward. The bumpy areas are starting to decrease."
The California Department of Transportation has been working since last year to repave I-80, install carpool lanes, build medians and improve onramps. That work, said Ben Edokpayi, Caltrans public information officer, should be done by the end of the year.
For drivers in Vacaville, that work could be finished by the end of the month, Edokpayi said. He said most of the eastbound lanes have received four layers of asphalt. As for the westbound lanes, construction is supposed to ramp up starting Monday in the areas between Alamo Drive in Vacaville and North Texas Street in Fairfield.
Construction between Highway 12 and Air Base Parkway also will be taking place next week, Edokpayi said.
While most of the paving and striping has been completed, some unfinished areas remain. Those include bridges, such as the section that crosses Mason Street.
Edokpayi said those areas are paved with a lighter material than the roadways because bridges can't support the weight of asphalt. Those sections are the last to be finished, and when they are resurfaced, they will have a smooth transition with the road pavement, he said.
Parts of the construction were threatened at one time because of budget cuts, but were saved thanks to federal stimulus money coming in. Halls said he isn't aware of any threats to funding needed to complete the current projects.
"As far as we know, the funding is good. (Stimulus) provided the cash flow," Halls said. "It's things that are in the pipeline that are unknown."
He said the new pavement is starting to make older sections of the road, such as I-80 in Dixon, look bad.
"That's what the old pavement used to look like - and that used to be the OK part," Halls said.
Carpool lanes
Work on the $30 million project between Red Top Road and Air Base Parkway on the 8.5 miles is 84 percent completed and scheduled to be finished by November.
Repaving
Crews have completed about 80 percent of the $37.3 million project between Leisure Town Road in Vacaville to North Texas Street in Fairfield. Work should end by October.
Only 9 percent of the 4.8 miles of work is done between Highway 12 overcrossing and Air Base Parkway. The $13.3 million project is scheduled to be completed by November.
Median and shoulders
Caltrans is about halfway done with the $20 million project in the five miles between American Canyon and Green Valley Creek. Repaving is also taking place.
