That whooshing sound you may have heard early this morning was the collected sighs of relief by commuters around Sacramento. Traffic is flowing again! Northbound lanes of I-5 were opened early today...some ten days after they were closed for repairs. All lanes on I-5 through downtown are open in both directions until Friday night. That's when southbound lanes will be closed in the "boat section" of I-5 for the next phase of construction.
C.C. Myers, the local road contractor who's been hired to manage the project met the deadline, as promised. He had vowed to have the northbound lanes moving by 5 a.m. today...and eureka...they were! After arriving at the KXJZ studios very early this morning I was curious about the status of the progress and flipped on the t-v...sure enough cameras showed vehicles moving at regular speeds down both sides of the freeway. Caltrans spokesman Mark Dinger, in an interview with KXJZ news reporter Steve Milne, said commuters adjusted well during the first 10-days of the project. Said Dinger..."We suddenly lost half the traffic here in Sacramento and we did that because people cooperated by taking transit, doing things like riding their bikes to work, working with their employers to alternate their work hours and some people I'm sure even took some vacation. So, we need more of the same if we're going to get through the southbound closure..."
And, so if you are a regular commuter on I-5 downtown, you'll be happy to know that things are moving ahead on the project with no major snafus...so far. Sure, there have been a few congested side streets, but really nothing too earth shattering as some had feared. If nothing else, the ride on northbound lanes should feel a little less bumpy. I love driving over new pavement...or um, concrete in this case.
Let's enjoy this period of calm, good feelings for the next few days...and prepare for the next I-5 challenge starting Friday night. The southbound closure is slated to last about ten days, and we'll see if cool heads will prevail as the hot weather sets in for summer.