Closure of Highway 74 causes problems in SJ Mountains, other SW Riverside cities

The closure of Highway 74 east of Hemet is causing headaches for countless residents in the flatlands as well as those living in the rural communities in the San Jacinto Mountains.

The closure is forcing residents and students to make adjustments in their daily lives, causing them to take an hour-long detour around the mountains. About 40 feet of roadway washed out about six miles west of the junction of Highway 74 and Highway Route 243.

Caltrans officials began repairs Sunday, but the road may be closed a week or longer.

“We are hearing conflicting stories,” said Mike Fogerty, director of transportation for the Hemet Unified School District, regarding estimates on how long repairs are expected to take. “We are hearing up to a month.”

The district transports between 60 and 70 students each day from the mountains into the San Jacinto Valley to attend classes at Hemet High School and other campuses. Principal Bill Black said there are about 150 students – out of a total enrollment of 2,450 – who live in the mountain communities and attend the school.

No local roads are available as detours, meaning drivers will have to take an hour-long route to get from the San Jacinto Valley to the mountain communities of Idyllwild, Mountain Center and Lake Hemet, California Highway Patrol officers said.

Alternate routes include Interstate 10 and routes 60 and 243 through Beaumont, or routes 79 and 371, and county road R-3, through Aguanga and Cahuilla east of Temecula. Hemet is transporting students along the southern detour, which takes students through Sage, south along 371 near the Riverside-San Diego county line and east into Anza before reaching Garner Valley.

The school district had to make adjustments to bus schedules to accommodate the closure. Fogerty said students are being asked to be ready at 5:15 a.m. to be picked up, 45 minutes sooner than normal. The afternoon drop off has also been adjusted, he said, and those involved in extra-curricular activities have to wait until 7 p.m. to be taken up the hill.

“That means there is an additional two or three hours in a bus each day,” Fogerty said. “That makes for a long day.”

The district is also spending an additional $500 each day in additional costs for things like gas, Fogerty said.

For business owners in Idyllwild, the possibility of snow covering the idyllic hamlet would be a magnet for tourists, but some believe the closure is likely to keep many away.

“It’s killing us,” said Eddie Brown, owner of Earth ‘N Fire in Idyllwild.

Brown said the business, in which customers paint their own pottery, depends on tourists to stop by after enjoying the snow. Brown said about half of his customers come from Hemet and does not expect them to make the trip because of the long detour.

“It’s the difference between 27 miles and 57 miles,” said Brown, referring to the difference between the normal route from Hemet to Idyllwild along Highway 74 and the detour taking motorists north from Interstate 10 in Beaumont-Banning. “They are just not going to do it.”

Tags: aguanga, Anza, Caltrans, hemet, hemet high school, Hemet Unified School District, Idyllwild, Principal Bill Black, sage, SWRNN

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Business, Education, Environment, Local News, News, Weather . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.