IMPORTANT: Starting February 20th, 2018, my channel will no longer be eligible for monetization because I do not have 1,000 subscribers. I ask that if you enjoyed this video, and would like to see more from me, please consider subscribing or becoming a Patreon supporter. My goal is to reach 1,000 subscribers by the end of 2018. Please help us reach that goal!
I-15, the major artery feeding Las Vegas, has played not only a crucial role in the population boom there, but further south in California too. It made the drive from the high desert to the valley below faster, safer, and easier. Being a major highway through the Inland Empire as well as the High Desert, we cover it here as well as the recently fixed Devore Interchange.
Shortly before the Blue Grass Fire that ravaged the area, Caltrans completed the 'Devore Interchange Project'. A joint effort to fix the junction of I-15 and I-215 at the base of the Cajon Pass, it fixed an issue with the interchange that made I-15 merge onto I-215, similar to an 'Exit to Stay On' interchange. When the interchange was first built, I-15 was signed along the Barstow and San Bernardino Freeways to I-10 (former US 70/99), the current path of I-215. This was the through route.
In the 1960's, California commissioned the building of the Route 31 freeway. Originally planned to run from I-15 in Devore to I-10 in Ontario (possibly as far as to SR 91 in Corona), SR 31 would have been a bypass of San Bernardino and I-15, trimming 20+ miles off the trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and removing that wasteful out-of-the-way switch that I-215 makes north of San Bernardino. The first section was built in 1960's as well, leading to the issue of the 'Exit to Stay On'.
At some point, Caltrans went to AASHTO to extend I-15 further, preferably to the US-Mexico border. The original plan called for I-15 to be extended along US 395's then-alignment along the Riverside Freeway, but to avoid the Moreno Valley Freeway concurrency US 395 had with SR 60, slice through Riverside, through the hills, to approximately Murrieta where it would meet US 395 and continue along it's path to San Diego. When it came about that the hills they planned to slice through were unstable limestone, and the plan was immediately scrapped. Then some genius had the idea of using the SR 31 corridor as it's successor. Most of the planning was already done, along with reports, to Corona. It would not have taken much more to route the road to Murrieta through the valley Lake Elsinore is situated in.
AASHTO liked the idea, however when Caltrans asked for funding to build the road from the chargeable Interstate fund, AASHTO first refused due to the already existent I-15 (now I-215, confused yet?) but agreed to negotiate a new deal with Caltrans after the state showed that it had, in fact, paid to build most of the road that was to be bypassed. A deal was struck, in which the feds would fund the SR 31 project (to be numbered I-15 after completion) if California would take back full maintenance of old I-15, remove it from the chargeable Interstate System, and not seek interstate funds to upgrade or fix the road in the future. They agreed.
Fast forward to the 2010's, the Devore Interchange has become a mess. I-15 (old SR 31) narrows down to three lanes, already an improvement from the original design of only one lane. It wasn't until then that a repair for the mess was designed and construction began.
Thanks for watching!
Follow me:
Website: forgottenhwy.com
Twitter: bit.ly/hwytweet
Instagram: bit.ly/hwyinsta
Facebook: bit.ly/hwyfacebook
Music:
'Borealis' - Triton:
www.tritonoffic...
/ tritonofficial
/ mfranmusic
/ mattfranciscomusic
'Lucid' - Liquid Memoirs:
/ liquid-memoirs
/ memoirsliquid
/ liquidmemoirs
/ @liquidmemoirs8584
8 окт 2024
