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Editor's note: The Interstate 80 detour through western Nevada County started March 31 and is slated to end in November. Caltrans surveyed big rigs using the nighttime detour through western Nevada County on 13 nights the detour was in effect from April 12 through April 27. An average of 500 trucks nightly used the detour. Caltrans officials said many more truckers are rescheduling their runs to avoid the highway during the detour hours. At the brake inspection station operated on I-80 at the Highway 20 interchange, the California Highway Patrol took 106 trucks out of service for safety violations, including one DUI.
A section of roadway called the Colfax Narrows makes the repairs on Interstate 80 in Northern California dangerous and a detour necessary through Nevada County while the road work continues, Caltrans District 3 spokesman Mark Dinger said.
The Narrows are on a 6 percent grade north of Colfax with two 12-foot lanes in each direction and a 2-foot shoulder.
Space for Caltrans employees to work and frequent deliveries of materials make it impossible for traffic to pass by safely along the Narrows, and no viable alternate route exists, Dinger added.
A $70 million project to rebuild I-80 from Colfax to Secret Town is sending an average of 500 of big-rigs nightly onto highways 20 and 49. The detour began March 31 and is set to end in November.
The section of interstate hasn’t seen major repairs since it was first built to accommodate traffic for the 1960 Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley.
But residents of western Nevada County have criticized the project, saying Caltrans officials didn't do enough to inform people. Some people say the sound of "Jake" brakes as truckers hit grades rattles their windows and wakes them up at night.
