The Hinkley Freeway is now open to traffic in both directions. Eastbound opened on March 13th, Westbound opened yesterday. I drove it last night. Still some work to do:
1) Lenwood Road exit not open in the westbound direction and neither is the WB on-ramp. With Old 58 now closed, Caltrans will finish the overpass of Lenwood (which will also overpass old 58) and then open the exit. EB Lenwood IC is open allowing travel to Lenwood southbound. All directions of the Hinkley Road interchange are open.
2) Interchange lighting is not yet in operation so Caltrans thoughtfully placed portable lighting to allow for better visibility.
Despite the name "Hinkley Expressway" given to the project, this is indeed a FREEWAY for its entire length except for the first 1/2 mile at the west end where it connects to the existing expressway. An at-grade intersection (not yet open) with Wagner Road was built. After this, the freeway begins and a white "Begin Freeway" sign has been placed.
Other smaller work to be done includes:
- Removal of a signal ahead sign on the existing 58 Freeway past Main Street (and before Lenwood Road).
- A "Begin Freeway" sign eastbound, past the Lenwood Rd interchange needs to be removed. This is because the freeway now begins just east of Wagner Road.
Very nice and I love freeways and this one was sorely needed but even I will admit that Hinkley got screwed a little. Other than the two interchanges - Hinkley Road and Lenwood Road (and really only the Hinkley Road IC serves the community), no other overpasses exist. So the community (what is left of it anyway - another sad story in its own right) is split in two with only two possible ways over the freeway. All other north-south streets have been turned into cul-de-sacs at the freeway. It would be nice for the area to have at least one additional non-interchange overpass.
I am sure this was a cost-saving matter and IMO it would have been more dangerous to allow cross traffic via intersections. But providing at least 1 or two more overpasses would have been helpful.
Now once the Kramer Bypass Expressway is finished (construction should start later this year), then 58 is a complete four-lane freeway or expressway from Interstate 15 at the east end to Stockdale Highway (just west of Allen Road) (west end of the Westside Parkway, which soon will be re-numbered as 58 once the Centennial Freeway is complete) in Bakersfield at the west end. Once Centennial is complete, Caltrans expects to shift 58 to the Centennial / Westside Parkway and continue the route numbering onto Stockdale Highway up to Interstate 5 until the rest of the freeway can be built westward to Interstate 5.
Don