Highway blasting this week on bypass

Crews will be doing more blasting work for the East Sonora Bypass project today and Tuesday.

Today’s blasting work will not affect traffic, but Tuesday’s will require the closure of Highway 108 from Hess Avenue to Cavaleri Road. 

The schedule for the blasting is today from 4 p.m. to about 5 p.m. and Tuesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Motorists should expect delays of 10 minutes on Tuesday, according to Caltrans.

The work is part of the multi-stage East Sonora Bypass project, which wrapped up its first phase in 2002. 

The $53 million East Sonora Bypass Phase II project began this April and received almost $15 million from Proposition 1B, a 2006 transportation bond.

Phase II will result in a two-lane expressway from Peaceful Oak Road to Via Este Road on a new configuration with fewer curves. 

This week’s blasting will help clear the way for the project, which was contracted earlier this year by Teichert/MCM Construction.

Phase II has already resulted in the construction of a frontage road connecting Highway 108 with Seaborn Road and Waif Mine Road, opened Aug. 31. 

Seaborn Road is no longer a through street, and motorists cannot use it to access Highway 108. Traffic has been rerouted onto the newly paved Christie May Lane and Frontage Road.

Later, a bridge will be built for the bypass over Mono Way. Other components of the project include an interchange with Peaceful Oak Road and a temporary intersection with Mono Way.

Construction of Phase II is expected to finish in July 2014, according to Caltrans spokeswoman Angela DaPrato. 

“You’d be pretty impressed by the progress that’s been made,” DaPrato said. “They’re just trucking away. It’s a huge project.”

According to state traffic data, an average of 22,300 vehicles drive along the existing Highway 108 bypass every day, and the average increases to 24,600 during peak summer months.

The stretch passing through East Sonora is the most heavily traveled section of Highway 108 outside the busiest part in Modesto, according to traffic statistics from 2011.

Phase II of the East Sonora Bypass project has the goal of easing congestion, decreasing travel times and improving safety.

Contact Brenna Swift at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 588-4529.