Approaching the Hurkey Creek Bridge construction from the Garner Valley side. The one lane is now only 130 inches wide (10 feet, 10 inches) making it a tight squeeze for large RVs and trucks. Photo by Marshall Smith
Approaching the Hurkey Creek Bridge construction from the Garner Valley side. The one lane is now only 130 inches wide (10 feet, 10 inches) making it a tight squeeze for large RVs and trucks.
Photo by Marshall Smith

Caltrans District 8 work on the Hurkey Creek Bridge replacement moves into a second stage with a narrower, one-direction lane on the north side of the project. Work on the south or Lake Hemet side required narrowing the north-side lane slightly.

The north-side lane now measures 10 feet, 10 inches. That’s a 130-inch horizontal clearance and will remain in effect until April or early May 2016, the anticipated project completion date. One-way traffic through the construction project is monitored by a 24/7 stop light.

District 8 Public Information Officer Terri Kasinga believed clearance would be sufficient for large RVs and large trucks. “If not, they’d have to be rerouted,” she said. Caltrans PIO Joy Schneider said she had no information about any traffic needing to be rerouted because of width of the narrower lane.

The U.S. Department of Transportation states the maximum width for commercial 18-wheeler big rigs is 102.36 inches. Large RVs measure about 102 inches wide for Class A motor homes.

So although tight, clearance should be adequate for slow transit through the construction site.