CA-58 Kramer Junction Bypass

[oscar]

Anyone know about how the project affects the CA 58 Boron business route? The east end of that route tied into what is now Old Highway 58, per May 2019 GMSV. But no indication whether the business route will now end at CA 58 exit 199, or at US 395, or state and county officials decide not to bother and instead just decommission that borderline Boron business route.

[ClassicHasClass]

I haven't seen anything said, but my suspicion is that it will remain status quo ante, i.e., signage for BR 58 such as it is will stop at the old Twenty Mule Team Rd junction, but it will still have continuity on the old highway into Kramer Jct. Neither Caltrans nor the County of San Bernardino seem to care much about business alignments.

[sparker]

I haven't seen anything said, but my suspicion is that it will remain status quo ante, i.e., signage for BR 58 such as it is will stop at the old Twenty Mule Team Rd junction, but it will still have continuity on the old highway into Kramer Jct. Neither Caltrans nor the County of San Bernardino seem to care much about business alignments.

A general CA rule of thumb -- decidedly unofficial -- is that the jurisdiction traversed by the old/relinquished route can request "business" banners (and a few shields if necessary) from the relevant Caltrans district with an implied promise that they will continue to sign the route appropriately as a business loop.  In reality, often that signage is initially applied then effectively forgotten (e.g. the old I-10 Holt Avenue "business loop" through Pomona and Ontario) and the shield assemblies left to deteriorate with age.   Since in this case we're dealing with unincorporated communities (Boron) receiving whatever benefit a signed business route would provide -- and the signed portion is in Kern County while any extension toward Kramer Junction would be over the county line in San Bernardino County -- it's not likely that the latter county would make the effort to continue the signage; the business loops within that county that are signed in the overall region are so because the incorporated towns in which they're located (Victorville, Barstow) have initiated and maintained signage themselves (coincidentally both are along Historic US 66!).  A business adjunct to CA 58 in what is mostly open county territory isn't likely to get such attention.  So the business loop, such as it is, will probably remain within Kern County, which has shown willingness to sign such facilities in Mojave and Tehachapi as well (with the blessings of those local cities).     

[ClassicHasClass]

Got to drive it today. Most of the CA 58 shields are still on US 395, but all they do is now point to the bypass. (Cheap!) Nice highway. The traffic lights were set to blinking red, so getting through them wasn't too hard, but it will be interesting to see how they're programmed.

Oddly, both Freeway Entrance signage packages for both onramps used the stupid small Freeway Entrance banners and white arrows, but green spades and directional tabs.

The actual bypass itself is really nice. Much, much faster than the old road.

Speaking of, they're tearing up the T-postmiled section north of the old Twenty Mule Team Rd junction, so it looks like it will be continuous to the Boron business loop as if there had only ever been one road.

[sparker]

Got to drive it today. Most of the CA 58 shields are still on US 395, but all they do is now point to the bypass. (Cheap!) Nice highway. The traffic lights were set to blinking red, so getting through them wasn't too hard, but it will be interesting to see how they're programmed.

Oddly, both Freeway Entrance signage packages for both onramps used the stupid small Freeway Entrance banners and white arrows, but green spades and directional tabs.

The actual bypass itself is really nice. Much, much faster than the old road.

Speaking of, they're tearing up the T-postmiled section north of the old Twenty Mule Team Rd junction, so it looks like it will be continuous to the Boron business loop as if there had only ever been one road.

Yeah -- it was obvious that the "temporary" (it survived about 40 years!) S-shaped "shunt" between the east end of the Boron freeway section and the old road wouldn't survive the Kramer project -- but that accommodation of local traffic needed to be maintained; hence the functional eastern extension of the Twenty Mule Team Road (Biz 58 within Kern County). 

[don1991]

I drove this about a month ago.  Very nice.  Effectively, it appears that the freeway in Boron was extended at least past Kramer Junction, as I see no access to the new 58 bypass at all.  Thus, you have the eastern-most interchange in Boron and the next access is the 395 interchange.  Not sure when there is new access since the 4-lane section east of Kramer Junction is still under construction.  At some point, the freeway will become expressway and will not begin freeway again until Wagner Road, which was the new intersection created at the west end of the new Hinkley portion of the freeway.  After Wagner, it is full-on freeway all the way to Barstow.

[sparker]

I drove this about a month ago.  Very nice.  Effectively, it appears that the freeway in Boron was extended at least past Kramer Junction, as I see no access to the new 58 bypass at all.  Thus, you have the eastern-most interchange in Boron and the next access is the 395 interchange.  Not sure when there is new access since the 4-lane section east of Kramer Junction is still under construction.  At some point, the freeway will become expressway and will not begin freeway again until Wagner Road, which was the new intersection created at the west end of the new Hinkley portion of the freeway.  After Wagner, it is full-on freeway all the way to Barstow.

That's essentially the modus operandi of Caltrans -- echoed by both D6 and D8 -- for the CA 58 facility from Bakersfield to Barstow.  Areas where there is significant commercial activity -- or safety issues -- have received the full freeway treatment (east of Bakersfield, Tehachapi, Mojave, Boron, Hinkley -- and now Kramer); the interim segments are built out to upgradeable expressway standards.  With the completion of divided 4-laning for the entire 150-mile stretch, it's likely that with current Caltrans policies that safety issues (i.e., accident rates, locally originating complaints, etc.) will drive any further freeway conversion.  Right now, the CA 223 intersection (and possibly the adjacent Caliente access point) might be the most compelling place to concentrate these efforts;  an additional location that may eventually prove problematic in this regard is the California City Blvd. intersection west of Boron.  Bottom line -- unless some overarching regional effort to bring 58 up to full freeway materializes,  expect "spot" fixes as deemed necessary.   

[sprjus4]

Interstate designation or not, with the completion of the Kramer Junction Bypass a few months ago, the entire corridor is a 4-lane divided highway, at least to CA-99, with limited at-grade access points. While in technical terms there's stretches that aren't freeway, meaning there's a few minor road intersections, farm access points, a couple private driveways, etc, it effectively is a completed 65 mph rural freeway, and acts as such. The only benefits to completing the remaining pieces would be the potential to increase the speed limit to 70 mph (IMO, it already should be, people already do well over 70 mph), and to put an interstate designation on it - such as an I-40 extension. It wouldn't change the way traffic flows or acts it, and only result in minor safety improvements. It's not like it's a rural divided highway lined with homes and businesses and passes thru towns.

It'd be nice to see an I-40 extension, but the priority is very low and will likely never come to fruition unless the feds start funding interstate projects in the future like the past.

IMO, the highest priority segment now should be completing a freeway between the Westside Pkwy and I-5. That would fully complete the 4-lane expressway.

[X99]

I drove this about a month ago.  Very nice.  Effectively, it appears that the freeway in Boron was extended at least past Kramer Junction, as I see no access to the new 58 bypass at all.  Thus, you have the eastern-most interchange in Boron and the next access is the 395 interchange.  Not sure when there is new access since the 4-lane section east of Kramer Junction is still under construction.  At some point, the freeway will become expressway and will not begin freeway again until Wagner Road, which was the new intersection created at the west end of the new Hinkley portion of the freeway.  After Wagner, it is full-on freeway all the way to Barstow.

That's essentially the modus operandi of Caltrans -- echoed by both D6 and D8 -- for the CA 58 facility from Bakersfield to Barstow.  Areas where there is significant commercial activity -- or safety issues -- have received the full freeway treatment (east of Bakersfield, Tehachapi, Mojave, Boron, Hinkley -- and now Kramer); the interim segments are built out to upgradeable expressway standards.  With the completion of divided 4-laning for the entire 150-mile stretch, it's likely that with current Caltrans policies that safety issues (i.e., accident rates, locally originating complaints, etc.) will drive any further freeway conversion.  Right now, the CA 223 intersection (and possibly the adjacent Caliente access point) might be the most compelling place to concentrate these efforts;  an additional location that may eventually prove problematic in this regard is the California City Blvd. intersection west of Boron.  Bottom line -- unless some overarching regional effort to bring 58 up to full freeway materializes,  expect "spot" fixes as deemed necessary.

Based on those lines on Google Maps that seem to be property boundaries, the CA 223 intersection will be a trumpet interchange, while the California City intersection will be either a diamond or a parclo. It also seems that Bena/Bealville will at least overpass CA 58, if not interchange with it. The Hyundai/Kia Proving Grounds seems to get a new entrance road off another diamond interchange, as does 90th Street just to the east. Everything east of Kramer Junction, however, doesn't seem like it's getting any freeway upgrades, since the property lines don't extend outwards at any junctions (and in some places, don't even follow the road at all). This is all based on some faded gray lines on Google Maps, so it's just speculation.

[sparker]

^^^^^^^^^
It should be noted that the expressway portion between Kramer and Hinkley is constructed to 4-lane freeway geometry; the only items that keep it from that status are at-grade crossings that are designed for eventual upgrading.  The expressway segment between Boron and Mojave that includes the California City intersection is a much older facility; the EB lanes are in fact sitting atop the original US 466 alignment (albeit widened), with a very substantial median that could eventually host a new set of EB lanes, with the original lanes becoming a frontage road.   But once westbound out of Mojave, there are a number of less-than-optimal segments, including the steep gradient west of Tehachapi that was carved out of the hillside, leaving little room for shoulders, particularly any in the median.  That, of course, can be problematic for a route hosting the level of truck traffic that CA 58 does.  Also, there's a series of hilly S-curves near Keene just east of the 223/Caliente intersections.  OTOH, if anything this facility configuration is similar to I-80 between Colfax and Gold Run up in the Sierras -- one of the oldest freeway segments on that corridor.   But IIRC the incident rate on the Tehachapi Mountain segment of 58 doesn't stand out from the rest of the route (the problematic 223 intersection notwithstanding) or similar CA mountain freeways and expressways; this would seem to indicate that drivers, commercial or otherwise, either practice caution when driving along it or have become accustomed to its idiosyncrasies.   However, as I posited in my earlier post, it'll likely take some glaring safety issues scattered along the whole corridor to provoke any extensive upgrade program -- unless a heavy dose of political will emerges from Bakersfield or out in the desert for such.     

[don1991]

The Tehachapi Mountain portion is due to a get a 3rd (Truck Climbing Lane) sometime in the future.  In California timelines, this could be a few decades, who knows.  But a study is beginning.  Can't remember which direction though I seem to remember it being in the eastbound direction.  The news article (I don't have the cite handy) mention the all-to-familiar frustration of one truck going 6MPH trying to pass another doing 5.

The CA-223 intersection is quite dangerous, IMO, followed closely by the Caliente and California City intersections.  The east-of-Kramer to west-of-Hinkley section is OK for now with the expressway section since the crossroads have very very little traffic.

[sprjus4]

The Tehachapi Mountain portion is due to a get a 3rd (Truck Climbing Lane) sometime in the future.  In California timelines, this could be a few decades, who knows.  But a study is beginning.  Can't remember which direction though I seem to remember it being in the eastbound direction.  The news article (I don't have the cite handy) mention the all-to-familiar frustration of one truck going 6MPH trying to pass another doing 5.

The CA-223 intersection is quite dangerous, IMO, followed closely by the Caliente and California City intersections.  The east-of-Kramer to west-of-Hinkley section is OK for now with the expressway section since the crossroads have very very little traffic.

If such a project to widen the mountain portion is ever put underway, some other improvements IMO should be included in such project - eliminate the steep, substandard grades. This would be quite a lengthy and expensive project, but needed in the long run. Upgrade the section to interstate standards by eliminating dangerous cross roads and hidden private driveways.

[dbz77]

Interstate designation or not, with the completion of the Kramer Junction Bypass a few months ago, the entire corridor is a 4-lane divided highway, at least to CA-99, with limited at-grade access points. While in technical terms there's stretches that aren't freeway, meaning there's a few minor road intersections, farm access points, a couple private driveways, etc, it effectively is a completed 65 mph rural freeway, and acts as such. The only benefits to completing the remaining pieces would be the potential to increase the speed limit to 70 mph (IMO, it already should be, people already do well over 70 mph), and to put an interstate designation on it - such as an I-40 extension. It wouldn't change the way traffic flows or acts it, and only result in minor safety improvements. It's not like it's a rural divided highway lined with homes and businesses and passes thru towns.

It'd be nice to see an I-40 extension, but the priority is very low and will likely never come to fruition unless the feds start funding interstate projects in the future like the past.

IMO, the highest priority segment now should be completing a freeway between the Westside Pkwy and I-5. That would fully complete the 4-lane expressway.

So now it is possible to drive from the San Francisco city limits to the Las Vegas city limits without encountering any traffic signals?

[sparker]

Interstate designation or not, with the completion of the Kramer Junction Bypass a few months ago, the entire corridor is a 4-lane divided highway, at least to CA-99, with limited at-grade access points. While in technical terms there's stretches that aren't freeway, meaning there's a few minor road intersections, farm access points, a couple private driveways, etc, it effectively is a completed 65 mph rural freeway, and acts as such. The only benefits to completing the remaining pieces would be the potential to increase the speed limit to 70 mph (IMO, it already should be, people already do well over 70 mph), and to put an interstate designation on it - such as an I-40 extension. It wouldn't change the way traffic flows or acts it, and only result in minor safety improvements. It's not like it's a rural divided highway lined with homes and businesses and passes thru towns.

It'd be nice to see an I-40 extension, but the priority is very low and will likely never come to fruition unless the feds start funding interstate projects in the future like the past.

IMO, the highest priority segment now should be completing a freeway between the Westside Pkwy and I-5. That would fully complete the 4-lane expressway.

So now it is possible to drive from the San Francisco city limits to the Las Vegas city limits without encountering any traffic signals?

Apparently that's the case, unless one has to get off to eat, pee, or otherwise utilize roadside facilities (rest areas notwithstanding!).   But one could have done that 40 years earlier -- just with a detour through the L.A. metro area.   The CA 58 improvements just enhance a more direct route -- involving, of course, the CA 120 bypass of Manteca (CA 152 still has plenty of signalized intersections in and around Los Banos).   

[mgk920]

I drove this about a month ago.  Very nice.  Effectively, it appears that the freeway in Boron was extended at least past Kramer Junction, as I see no access to the new 58 bypass at all.  Thus, you have the eastern-most interchange in Boron and the next access is the 395 interchange.  Not sure when there is new access since the 4-lane section east of Kramer Junction is still under construction.  At some point, the freeway will become expressway and will not begin freeway again until Wagner Road, which was the new intersection created at the west end of the new Hinkley portion of the freeway.  After Wagner, it is full-on freeway all the way to Barstow.

That's essentially the modus operandi of Caltrans -- echoed by both D6 and D8 -- for the CA 58 facility from Bakersfield to Barstow.  Areas where there is significant commercial activity -- or safety issues -- have received the full freeway treatment (east of Bakersfield, Tehachapi, Mojave, Boron, Hinkley -- and now Kramer); the interim segments are built out to upgradeable expressway standards.  With the completion of divided 4-laning for the entire 150-mile stretch, it's likely that with current Caltrans policies that safety issues (i.e., accident rates, locally originating complaints, etc.) will drive any further freeway conversion.  Right now, the CA 223 intersection (and possibly the adjacent Caliente access point) might be the most compelling place to concentrate these efforts;  an additional location that may eventually prove problematic in this regard is the California City Blvd. intersection west of Boron.  Bottom line -- unless some overarching regional effort to bring 58 up to full freeway materializes,  expect "spot" fixes as deemed necessary.

That also appears to echo the WisDOT way of doing major rural non-interstate highway upgrades here in Wisconsin - build the four lanes first in order to get the traffic carrying capacity up and then add interchanges and grade separations here and there as traffic conditions warrant and funding allows.  Over time, it will likely evolve into a full freeway (for example, see: I-41 between Milwaukee and Green Bay, WI).

Mike

[sparker]

That also appears to echo the WisDOT way of doing major rural non-interstate highway upgrades here in Wisconsin - build the four lanes first in order to get the traffic carrying capacity up and then add interchanges and grade separations here and there as traffic conditions warrant and funding allows.  Over time, it will likely evolve into a full freeway (for example, see: I-41 between Milwaukee and Green Bay, WI).

Mike

The difference between CA methodology and that of upper-midwest states (WI, IA, etc.) is that corridors are handled as whole coordinated projects, whereas in CA it's more a matter of sitting around until funding shakes loose before planning for a particular segment takes place.  Remember that the initial improvements over Tehachapi started way back about 1961 when it was still US 466, and that it didn't even intersect CA 99 as a freeway until late 1979; the I-15 interchange (bypassing the convoluted 2-lane Barstow routing) only dates from 1997.  A bit here, a bit there -- that's more of an accurate description for the 58 progress.  But I will have to give the agency due credit -- they've done more in the desert in the past 16 years than was done since the formal inception of the state's freeway/expressway system 60 years ago -- starting with the 2003 Mojave bypass, getting the Hinkley bypass done, and culminating here with Kramer.   Getting the full 150 miles completed as freeway or upgradeable expressway is arguably one of their more prominent successes in the last few decades, particularly since it involves two distinct districts (historically one of the obstacles to long corridor projects).  Now -- if they can apply this type of ambition to US 395 between Hesperia and Kramer, SoCal may at long last have some semblance of an safe, efficient, and relatively high-speed metro bypass!     

[DAL764]

the I-15 interchange (bypassing the convoluted 2-lane Barstow routing) only dates from 1997.

Was this interchange always supposed to be where it was built? Because I seem to remember there being a large y-interchange further east on I-15 that looked like it was meant for a full freeway connection, which would have required a long bridge over the large train yard.

[CtrlAltDel]

the I-15 interchange (bypassing the convoluted 2-lane Barstow routing) only dates from 1997.

Was this interchange always supposed to be where it was built? Because I seem to remember there being a large y-interchange further east on I-15 that looked like it was meant for a full freeway connection, which would have required a long bridge over the large train yard.

Are you referring to this?:

[sparker]

the I-15 interchange (bypassing the convoluted 2-lane Barstow routing) only dates from 1997.

Was this interchange always supposed to be where it was built? Because I seem to remember there being a large y-interchange further east on I-15 that looked like it was meant for a full freeway connection, which would have required a long bridge over the large train yard.

Are you referring to this?:

That was to have been the original connection between I-15 and westward US 466, later CA 58.  At that point, the railyard didn't extend as far west as it does today.  The decision to move the final configuration of the 15/58 interchange occurred after BNSF expanded its yard westward to handle the increased West Coast container traffic -- Barstow is where the lines from L.A. and the container port in Richmond merge.  That, and the desire to eliminate LH exits and entrances, which the original configuration featured, prompted the relocation of the interchange about a mile SW of the previous point, which simplified the bridge structures over both the rail lines and the Mojave River. 

[395fun2drive]

Just fyi,

Construction Continues on State Route 58 Near Kramer Junction
SAN BERNARDINO — The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will be closing lanes on State Route (SR-58) for continued work on the 4-lane divided highway project near Kramer Junction.

East and westbound lane closures will take place between the Kern County line and Twenty Mule Road. Lane #1 will be closed in both directions on February 19 and 20 from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Crews will be removing material in the median of the old crossover detour. Expect delays during construction hours.

Remember to reduce your speed in the work zone. Be advised, weather conditions may affect this operation.

[Inyomono395]

So after this will the project be completed? I want to drive the new bypass but I want it to be fully completed before I do it.

[sparker]

So after this will the project be completed? I want to drive the new bypass but I want it to be fully completed before I do it.

Functionally, the project is complete; traffic is moving in both directions on the new alignment.  What is apparently happening is that there is still some detritus (pavement in the median, etc.) from the various iterations of the connection to the original CA 58 alignment along the RR tracks through Kramer.  That alignment saw several configurations during the process of "cutting in" the new freeway to the old Boron freeway section in order to maintain continuous traffic flow.  So what they're doing is removing all the old alphalt, concrete, and any other items (paddles, signage) from the area between Kramer & Boron where the "temporary" (although it lasted about 40 years!) connection was located.  Except for the short lane closures cited above, there shouldn't be any major disruption to CA 58 freeway travel.

[pderocco]

I drove it on 2/15, and it looked like the entire roadbed is complete, including the culvert at the east end. However, both directions were routed onto the WB (north) side from a little east the US-395 interchange to the east end. It looked like they still hadn't striped or signed the EB side, from what I could see driving WB.

The old crossover that connected to 20MTR looked like much of it had been dug up, but the intersection with 20MTR hadn't changed yet.

I'd guess a month more before it's done.

I wonder how long before the three traffic lights in a row on US-395 will make them do a US-395 bypass.

[sparker]

I drove it on 2/15, and it looked like the entire roadbed is complete, including the culvert at the east end. However, both directions were routed onto the WB (north) side from a little east the US-395 interchange to the east end. It looked like they still hadn't striped or signed the EB side, from what I could see driving WB.

The old crossover that connected to 20MTR looked like much of it had been dug up, but the intersection with 20MTR hadn't changed yet.

I'd guess a month more before it's done.

I wonder how long before the three traffic lights in a row on US-395 will make them do a US-395 bypass.

Well, let's see...........the Boron bypass dates from the late '70's, and the Kramer Jct. bypass opened 2019.  By that measure -- and the fact that there's not an inch of freeway on US 395 from its southern terminus to the Inyokern wye -- I'd guess somewhere in the mid-to-late 2050's!  But if there's any activity on a freeway farther south in the Victorville/Adelanto area, there might be some call for a 395 Kramer bypass -- with an intervening expressway.  Nevertheless, I wouldn't hold my breath.   

[ClassicHasClass]

There'd probably be a fair bit of local opposition from what locals there are, too. The businesses depend heavily on drive-thru traffic and they'll already lose some from CA 58 being bypassed.