Bono Mack Gets Details on I-10 Backup

Caltrans District 8 Director Raymond W. Wolfe has apologized again for the massive Interstate 10 backup Feb. 12 that caught thousands of Sunday motorists in the San Gorgonio Pass, calling it "unacceptable and avoidable if appropriate decisions had been made in the field."

In a Feb. 16 letter released Thursday by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, Wolfe continued, "This is the real tragedy and I commit to you and the public that we will institute all the necessary organizational and policy changes to ensure this will not be repeated."

Mack is running for re-election in November and hopes to represent the Pass area as part of the newly-drawn 36th Congressional District. She distributed Wolfe's letter in a press release Thursday afternoon.

Last week in a obtained by Banning-Beaumont Patch, Wolfe called Caltrans' handling of pavement rehab on the westbound 10 in Banning a "fiasco" and said he removed the resident engineer and all inspection staff involved in the project.

The 10-hour, 20-mile backup stretched to Palm Springs and left thousands of motorists in crawling traffic with few options. The delays were so bad four people with music industry connections chartered a jet from Thermal to make sure they made it to the in Los Angeles.

In perhaps his most detailed public accounting - to date - of his agency's handling of events on Sunday Feb. 12, Wolfe's letter to Bono Mack included the following:

"The project scope was to replace deteriorated slabs and regroove pavement to facilitate better ride quality and extend the life of the concrete pavement.

"The work entailed removal of large sections of concrete pavement (8 feet x 12 feet x 12 inches deep), regrading compacting the base material, and placement of rapid-set concrete.

"Once the new concrete pavement reached a minimum strength, traffic could be restored.

"A multitude of issues arose that contributed to the unacceptable delays in reopening the highway; temperatures overnight were too low to place concrete pavement, more slabs were removed than could be reasonably be replaced in the allocated construction window, the concrete batch plant broke down delaying delivery of concrete for hours, and once concrete trucks were rolling they found themselves caught in the heavy traffic backup.

"After it was clear to field staff that delays were unavoidable, internal organizational issues delayed media outreach efforts."

Last week, the same day Wolfe wrote his letter to Bono Mack, a supervisor at the Robertson's Ready Mix batch plant in Cabazon disputed Caltrans accounts of events, saying there was .

Short-term plans for dealing with future traffic backups in the San Gorgonio Pass include "changeable message signs" on various routes leading to the Pass, and three additional "median barrier breaks with moveable gates" between Highway 111 and Apache Trail, Wolfe said.

Ideally, an alternate route between Highway 111 and Apache Trail in Cabazon will be constructed, Wolfe said, "but this solution has a number of issues that will delay it for years."

A pdf copy of Wolfe's letter to Bono Mack is attached to this report.

Bono Mack said Thursday she intends to monitor Caltrans' "evolving new plan to avoid massive traffic delays on Interstate 10. . . .

"To its credit, Caltrans has admitted its mistakes and is working diligently on a plan to prevent similar traffic meltdowns in the future," the congresswoman said. "That's a good first step.

"But at the end of the day, the plan will only work if there's a 100% commitment to follow through on it. I look forward to thoroughly reviewing the plan when finished and will seek input on it from Secretary LaHood and his team at the U.S. Department of Transportation."

Wolfe and California Highway Patrol representatives have been asked to appear before the Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 28.