Work continues on Highway 65
Concrete pavement scheduled to begin mid-july
State construction workers continue work on the State Route 65 Widening Project south of Porterville.
In addition to Avenue 136 reopening on June 14, Christian Lukens, the public information officer for Caltrans District 6, said Avenues 128 and 124 were just closed at the access to Highway 65 on Friday. Lukens said re-construction is going on at Avenues 128 and 124 right now and noted that a contractor is doing prep work on the new southbound lanes from Avenue 136 headed south. He added that concrete pavement is scheduled to begin in mid-july.
Tony Marquez, the co-owner of Pearson Ranch Industrial Park, said Tea Pot Dome Avenue will be closed off to traffic at the intersection with Highway 65 until midseptember. He said the closure is a direct result of the Caltrans Highway 65 Widening Project.
Marquez said that all businesses in the area will be open during construction and noted that there will be a detour to get to the businesses in the industrial park via westbound on Scranton to southbound on Newcomb to eastbound on Tea Pot Dome.
The widening project, which costs $16.5 million, will convert an approximate three-mile section of existing two-lane conventional highway to a four-lane expressway on State Route 65, just south of State Route 190 in Porterville to just south of Avenue 120 (Tea Pot Dome Avenue).
The project has been on the radar for more than a decade, but got final approval a couple of years ago. The widened highway will provide greater access to the Porterville Airport off of Newcomb Street, the Porterville Fairgrounds on Tea Pot Dome Avenue and possibly to Eagle Mountain Casino if it is allowed to relocate just west of the airport.
The project is partially funded by Measure R. The City of Porterville has completed utility work on Tea Pot Dome and Scranton Avenue intersections. Signal lights and other utilities had to be moved back for the widening project. Also, a portion of the gas station/market at Tea Pot Dome Avenue is being relocated.