Reconnected Route 66 in Cajon Pass may open soon

A part of the Interstate 15/215 interchange project that would reconnect a portion of old Route 66 in San Bernardino County, California, was slated to be finished by May.

But a new report in the Victorville Daily Press indicates it will reopen early this year.

To the south, Route 66 proceeds three-quarters of a mile south of Kenwood Avenue, where it again ends at I-15. Nevertheless, county officials have plans to rebuild the road during the I-15/I-215 Interchange construction project. Route 66 will be rebuilt under the new interchange, the news release stated, to connect with the existing portion of the road that ends just north of Devore Road. From there, Cajon Boulevard will take motorists south into San Bernardino.
Ryan McEachron, Victorville city councilman and San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) president, told the Daily Press Wednesday that portions of the interchange, expected to be completed by next May, may become open to traffic at the beginning of the year.
“A lot of portions of the interchange have been completed,” McEachron said, “but we may start to see portions of it open for traffic by the beginning of (2016) —including the connection to Cajon Boulevard.”

Old Route 66 would go under the Interstate 15 interchange before it heads into San Bernardino.

The California Department of Transportation is overseeing the I-15/215 project, which aims to improve one of the state’s worst bottlenecks. More than 1 million vehicles go through the intersection each week. The entire project’s original cost was slated at $324 million. The actual cost will be about $300 million.

Old Route 66 will serve as an alternate route for when the freeway is closed because of an accident or for the benefit of local traffic.

(Image in 2011 of an abandoned section of Route 66 near Cajon Pass by guyprentice via Flickr)