CALTRANS Screws The Los Banos And Central Valley Residents

Thanks Caltrans for the 45-minute delay coming out of Los Banos
Thanks Caltrans for the 45-minute delay

CALTRANS Could Give A Flying F* About Los Banos or Central Valley Residents

When Caltrans decides to do work, they get the job done, in the hours prescribed, regardless of who it impacts. And I get it. Stuff has to get done, but sheesh, sometimes the org seems pretty belligerent about the hours they choose to work, regardless of the impact they're causing.

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Let's take a look at the residents of the Central Valley of California. The primary mass of commuters start their commutes anywhere from 3:00 to 6:00AM. Many of these residents travel great distances to work in the Bay Area while living in the only place they can afford to own or rent. But these residents also seem to be second in consideration when it comes to Caltrans scheduling road work.

I can't tell you how many times I've encountered construction that ends at 5 or 6AM, when that is pretty much past the peak of transit times for Central Valley residents from places like Los Banos and surrounding towns.

There was a period of time they clamped down the 152/156 divide with lane work, until 6AM, backing up the the 152 for quite a distance.

Last week we started encountering bridge work on the Westbound 152, at the Forebay just east of the San Luis Reservoir on the Pacheco Pass. This work went into the 6AM commute hour, causing delays of up to 45 minutes for some, making quite a few folks late to work or even missing the first and second Gilroy, Caltrain rides.

It was pretty effed up, as traffic backed up on the 152, forcing folks to start taking a parallel service road to get past everyone or in a few cases, just driving up the dirt center divide to pass everyone. I even had one person continually changing lanes in the 5mph traffic trying to get the fastest lane... Um dude, they were both going 5mph. Knuckle dragger.

This week seems no different.

Caltrans has scheduled the very same construction on the bridge for the upcoming week, that caused huge delays last week. The construction runs until 6AM, two hours after the huge commuter's rush to the Bay Area.

More people will get truly effed over by this work schedule. Why Caltrans can't end the construction before the rush hour is beyond me, but they've been pretty consistent about working well into the true rush hour for the Central Valley. People have been making this drive for upwards of 15 or 20 years from the Central Valley, so it's not like they're being surprised by the traffic jam they're causing.

It's just a shame that the working man takes it in the ass from Caltrans. But hey, a big F* you, from Caltrans to the working stiff.

 MERCED 152 WB San Luis Forebay Bridge PLANNED Lane Closures:

07/29/18 08:01 PM - 7/30/18 05:59 AM
07/30/18 08:01 PM - 07/31/18 05:59 AM
07/31/18 08:01 PM - 08/01/18 05:59 AM
08/01/18 08:01 PM - 08/02/18 05:59 AM
08/02/18 08:01 PM - 08/03/18 05:59 AM

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