Overnight closure on Highway 68 for culvert replacement

Crews are back on Highway 68 Monday night, this time to replace a failed culvert between Quail Ridge Lane and Corral de Tierra Road.

A culvert is a drain that carries water under the road. When it fails, it sends water into the ground which can cause roads to collapse from underneath.

“Not every damaged culvert causes a sinkhole, but this one did,” said Susana Cruz with Caltrans.

Crews began repairing Highway 68 in February after the culvert failed.

“It was allowing water to go under the roadway causing that sinkhole looking thing,” Cruz said.

Now that the road has been patched up, crews are going to replace the culvert.

“Even though it was an older culvert, the fact that we received so much rain, it just deteriorated even worse and it was more than it could handle,” Cruz said.

Caltrans said the replacement is necessary to prevent future water damage to the highway.

From Monday until Friday, one lane of Highway 68 between Quail Ridge Lane and Corral de Tierra Road will be shut down. Drivers going opposite directions will have to alternate on the other lane between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Regulars on the highway aren’t too concerned.

“If it’s late night, it should be OK,” said Byron James, who uses Highway 68 daily. “The rush should have been over and everybody will be at home.”

James has sat in traffic before, and he’s got a trick or two to avoid the jam.

“We sometimes run errands or go out to a restaurant,” James said.

James also works at the Corral Market & Deli a few miles from the road closure, and he said it will be business as usual there.

“We usually close around 7. I don’t think it will affect the market too much,” James said.

Caltrans said this is the last project on Highway 68.