Full closure of Hwy 111

ilovesprig

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Aug 3, 2012
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From Jessica at Wister,

I’m sure most of you are aware of the geyser across highway 111 that has been moving towards the highway and the Imperial Wildlife Area. Some of you have probably heard about an expected road closer as well. The Department of Transportation has released information on the upcoming closure. The highway is expected to reopen before move in day but you may contact us or DOT (Caltrans) before you bring your trailer’s out so that you can plan your trip accordingly.



Please see below.

District: District 11 — San Diego and Imperial Counties
Contact: [email protected]
Phone: (619) 688-6723

Decorative image - Map depicting the detour for the SR-111 Niland Geyser Mitigation ProjectEL CENTRO, Calif. — A full closure of State Route 111 (SR-111) at Davis and Gillespie roads, about five miles northwest of Niland in Imperial County is expected to begin Friday, September 27, after 5 p.m., according to Caltrans. The closure could be in place up to two weeks.

There will be no access through SR-111 at the closure points as crews will be installing drainage underneath the roadway. Local traffic may access SR-111 up to the closure points near Davis and Gillespie roads.

Because this is a stretch of highway without easily-accessible parallel roads, general traffic will be detoured from the north and south of SR-111 to the west side of the Salton Sea along State Route 86. See the below map.

Motorists are advised to plan for extended travel times along the detour.

The work is part of an emergency project to mitigate a natural-occurring geyser that has existed since 1953. The geyser has been moving towards SR-111 since 2016.

The geyser/mud pot is releasing water, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide gases in low concentrations and does not pose a health hazard from a distance. In the past 11 years, the geyser has moved slowly; however, the rate of movement has increased, and the geyser has already encroached the railroad right of way impacting Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

Caltrans is coordinating with local, state, and other partners for this mitigation and is now implementing this emergency project to expedite the work. For safety reasons, there is no access to the mud pot and public site visits are prohibited.

Caltrans staff thanks community members and motorists for their patience for any delays and inconvenience during construction.

The work schedule is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and materials, or construction-related issues.
 
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Here's the detour
 

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For the LA / OC / IE people if it's not done by the opener you can still get there if you take 86 to 111 and go north then go in through Noffsinger to Davis and north to the check station that will add 37 miles and 46 minutes to the trip. For those coming from San Diego, piece of cake, just go the usual route but turn in at Noffsinger to Davis then north to the check station. Only adds a mile and 8 minutes to the drive.
 
fish dog, if i'm looking at the map correctly, it looks like IF the road is still closed when the opener starts then we would not be able to hunt the North section of Wister due to having to use the 111 to get to them (except for the 115's)

Does anyone know how this affects the flood up for the North ponds?
 
fish dog, if i'm looking at the map correctly, it looks like IF the road is still closed when the opener starts then we would not be able to hunt the North section of Wister due to having to use the 111 to get to them (except for the 115's)

Does anyone know how this affects the flood up for the North ponds?
Yup, I went back and looked at it again myself. I think you might be right about that, I don't see any way to get up there without using the 111.
 
You would be able to get to the northern areas if you are allowed to drive the eastern most road along the 115 area to honker road then you could access 312's and 413's. Also could get on 111 there and head up to the 513's
 

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