News
ENLARGE
Confusion and slight changes with the the Interstate 80 detour apparently caused a truck carrying a huge part of a smokestack to snarl traffic in the roundabout area near Grass Valley’s downtown Monday morning for 30 minutes.
The oversized load originated in Findlay, Ohio, and was bound for the Bay Area when it was detoured onto Highway 20 at Interstate 80, according to Dick Bell of Dick’s Pilot Service of Loomis.
The detour lasts from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. due to the continued work on I-80, but Bell said his Caltrans permit called for the detour so he followed it. That is the second wideload truck since the I-80 detour opened that was held up in Grass Valley because of driving orders while the interstate was open.
Both trucks were probably detoured through the area during the off hours because they were oversize loads that were too wide for the construction spots along I-80, according to Caltrans spokeswoman Rochelle Jenkins.
The width restrictions will be for westbound lanes this week and eastbound lanes next week, Jenkins said. Most wide loads are waiting for the restriction period to lift May 4 before they drive on I-80, or they are going through Las Vegas.
There is a possibility that more wide loads will be routed down Highway 20 to Highway 49, “but they will be few and far between,” Jenkins said.
A truck going through the same detour April 10 stopped just short of the Dorsey Drive overpass because its load was too tall to get under it.
Pilot car driver Terry Kajyo of Reno said his Caltrans permit showed he was supposed to lead the rig through the area on Highway 20 and Highway 49.
In Monday’s mishap, the pilot vehicle driver originally got off the Golden State Freeway at Brunswick Road about 10 a.m. in order to get around the low Dorsey Drive overpass.
“That’s the way Caltrans routed us through town,” Bell said.
Confused, Bell said he took the lane which feeds traffic off of East Main Street and onto Idaho-Maryland Road going into downtown Grass Valley, thereby missing the roundabout.
The driver was eventually escorted through town and under the Dorsey Drive overpass he was originally trying to avoid.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
The oversized load originated in Findlay, Ohio, and was bound for the Bay Area when it was detoured onto Highway 20 at Interstate 80, according to Dick Bell of Dick’s Pilot Service of Loomis.
The detour lasts from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. due to the continued work on I-80, but Bell said his Caltrans permit called for the detour so he followed it. That is the second wideload truck since the I-80 detour opened that was held up in Grass Valley because of driving orders while the interstate was open.
Both trucks were probably detoured through the area during the off hours because they were oversize loads that were too wide for the construction spots along I-80, according to Caltrans spokeswoman Rochelle Jenkins.
The width restrictions will be for westbound lanes this week and eastbound lanes next week, Jenkins said. Most wide loads are waiting for the restriction period to lift May 4 before they drive on I-80, or they are going through Las Vegas.
There is a possibility that more wide loads will be routed down Highway 20 to Highway 49, “but they will be few and far between,” Jenkins said.
A truck going through the same detour April 10 stopped just short of the Dorsey Drive overpass because its load was too tall to get under it.
Pilot car driver Terry Kajyo of Reno said his Caltrans permit showed he was supposed to lead the rig through the area on Highway 20 and Highway 49.
In Monday’s mishap, the pilot vehicle driver originally got off the Golden State Freeway at Brunswick Road about 10 a.m. in order to get around the low Dorsey Drive overpass.
“That’s the way Caltrans routed us through town,” Bell said.
Confused, Bell said he took the lane which feeds traffic off of East Main Street and onto Idaho-Maryland Road going into downtown Grass Valley, thereby missing the roundabout.
The driver was eventually escorted through town and under the Dorsey Drive overpass he was originally trying to avoid.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
