In July 2022, yet another freeway project has been announced, which is reported to last until spring of 2025. Many are concerned about this ongoing construction as the sole purpose of this new project is to revamp and improve the safety performance of the roadway on Interstate 15, all the way from Oak Hill Road to just South of Bear Valley Road in Victorville. 

With this in mind, students can take a look at the impacts this project will have on the oncoming traffic that floods up day by day, with higher risks of accidents and overflow, leaving little to no room for other vehicles to merge. It is minor inconveniences such as these that make driving more dangerous than it has to be within California.

As the days go by and the pavement replacement project continues, there are other improvements that will be made including the construction of CRCP (Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement). What this will bring to the table for all drivers is a new, longer lasting roadway which reduces maintenance costs and construction efforts in the near future, leading to the reduction of impacts of other vehicles and exposed highway workers alike.

Though there has been an increase in construction on our highways, there have been complaints by some students driving on the I-15, as it has caused them to slow down severely as a result of the horrible traffic and the ongoing project.

“When I was going to Homecoming, the freeway on ramps were closed so we had to take the streets,” senior Jonathan Gapasin said. “This just led to more minor inconveniences after the next roadblocks and two accidents which I saw for myself on the same street. It’s just a constant overflow coming into our residential areas and it’s getting worse.” 

Even if this interstate project is supposed to be for the better of our roads and improving upon the flaws, this continues to create more dilemmas than there should be during this unorganized process. Note that this whole project is going to last for another three years if the weather allows. 

It has also been reported that both on and off ramps will not be closed at the same time, but both can be closed for up to 56 hours to avoid the active daily commute. This as a result will more than likely create more problems within some of the residential areas, slowing down the regular flow of traffic. 

“I just think all of this construction gets annoying while being on the road sometimes as a newer driver,” senior Ryan Sandoval said. “It just slows everything down and also the fact that it’s just everywhere now so I have to be more cautious when I’m driving from Ontario.”

With an expected three year gap in between this entire interstate project, companies who are funding these operations will more than likely take longer than expected. Drivers on the road should remain cautious of these obstacles and make sure to plan ahead with different routes to avoid the areas under a larger amount of construction. Until then, California’s future projects will be booming within Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego areas.

“I just think California should try and spend more time and money on other things that would help other organizations and the community more rather than just wasting millions of dollars on new pavement for the freeway,” senior Peter Nguyen said.