Public Forum on Interstate 10 Concerns at 5 p.m. Thursday in Rancho Mirage

The massive Sunday backup on Interstate 10 that stretched from Banning to Palm Springs on Feb. 12 will be the focus of a public forum Thursday in Rancho Mirage.

Assemblymen Brian Nestande (R-Palm Desert) and Manuel Perez (D-Coachella) plan to host the forum with Caltrans District 8 Director Raymond W. Wolfe and California Highway Patrol representatives.

A decision made days before the massive Sunday backup in the San Gorgonio Pass was the primary cause of the 20-mile, 10-hour jam created by Caltrans, Wolfe told the on Feb. 28.

"There was a conscious decision a couple of days earlier by the construction team that they weren't even going to start placing concrete in the slabs that were removed until 7 in the morning," Caltrans District 8 Director Raymond W. Wolfe told the board.

Wolfe has absolved the Robertson's Ready Mix concrete batch plant in Cabazon of blame in the delays.

Banning-Beaumont Patch visited the batch plant Feb. 16, where a supervisor there stated in the massive backup and delays.

"It was not the batch plant," Wolfe told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday Feb. 28. "It's the decision of my staff that led to the unfortunate events on February 12th, and for that I am deeply apologetic and it will not happen again under my watch."

Wolfe has removed the and an inspector from the project, and said he has proceeded with disciplinary action.

The event is scheduled 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Rancho Mirage Public Library, 71100 Highway 111.

To RSVP or for more information, contact Nestande's Palm Desert office at (760) 674-0164.