Driving through Idyllwild for the rest of the summer will be different, if not difficult at times. As many know from the recent postal box fliers, Riverside County is planning extensive road work, mostly resurfacing, which will begin this month and continue into the last of October.
Motorists can expect lane closures during construction with flaggers assisting vehicles through the closures. Residential and business driveway access will remain open.
The first work is planned from early August, probably near Idyllwild School, and expected to continue through October at the entrance to Humber Park. But weather and other events could alter the schedule, Andrea Suarez, the county’s information consultant, stressed.
Four local and heavily trafficked roads and two locations will be involved. The roads are Saunders Meadows Drive, both North and South circle drives, and Fern Valley Road. The County Transportation Maintenance Yard and Lawler Lodge are the two specific locations where resurfacing will be done and may affect traffic passing near them.
Roads
All of the road work should begin this month on Saunders Meadow Road, which the county plans to reconstruct from Highway 243 to Clubhouse Drive, about half a mile in distance. Reconstruction involves “… completely removing all of the asphalt and replacing it,” according to Suarez.
The work on North and South circle drives is mostly resurfacing, which is only grinding out the top layer of asphalt and then repaving it.
The work along South Circle Drive will cover about 1.8 miles, from Highway 243 (just beyond Idyllwild School) to Pine Crest Avenue near Fern Valley. Most of the work on South Circle will be resurfacing but one section will need reconstruction in order to “reprofile and improve existing drainage,” the county’s transportation website indicated.
The county plans to resurface about .7 miles of North Circle Drive from Village Center Drive to the top at Pine Crest Avenue.
Fern Valley Road will be resurfaced from South Circle Drive to Humber Park, about 1.7 miles. However, just before the entrance to Humber Park, the county needs to construct a retaining wall below the road edge.
Currently, this is expected to occur in late October. Because of the equipment and narrow area, the county will need to close access to Humber Park for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians for about two weeks when this portion of the work commences. Also, parking will not be permitted on Fern Valley Road during the closure.
When this occurs, the U.S. Forest Service will post signs on the Pacific Crest Trail, especially at the juncture with Devil’s Slide Trail, so hikers will know they can still get into town for food, rest or mail via the Ernie Maxwell Trail, which has access in the Humber Park parking lot.
Locations
At the county Transportation Maintenance Yard, which is at the intersection of Johnson Road and Maranatha Drive, the work will involve reconstructing the maintenance yard, as well as Johnson Road, and improving the existing drainage.
At Lawler Lodge and Alpine Cabins on Highway 243, interior roads, access roads and the parking area also are set to be repaved.
The approximate cost for all the roadwork is $5.1 million.
For more information before and during the project work, a Construction Hotline (877-277-5343) is available to call. Also ,Riverside County Transportation has a website with project information at: rcprojects.org/Idyllwild.
