When will SLO County’s deadliest roads be fixed? These improvements are already in the works
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Deadly Driving in SLO County
A multi-part series by The Tribune
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Where are SLO County’s deadliest roads? These 3 spots have the most fatal crashes
Why are people dying on SLO County highways? Here’s a look at causes behind fatal crashes
SLO County mom killed at deadly intersection days before baby’s 1st birthday. Here’s her story
When will SLO County’s deadliest roads be fixed? These improvements are already in the works
Editor’s note: This story is the fourth in a four-part series about deadly car crashes in San Luis Obispo County.
When is the government planning to fix deadly roadways in San Luis Obispo County?
After multiple years of fatal crashes along several sections of local highways, the county and the state of California have devised plans to reduce roadway deaths.
At one Highway 101 intersection in the Paso Robles area, construction crews will soon break ground on an undercrossing to end merge-related crashes.
The Cholame “Y” interchange north of Shandon is getting a major upgrade that is expected to be completed in coming months.
Meanwhile, in Nipomo, crews have wrapped up work on a new interchange, but is it actually safer to drive there now?
The Tribune looked into roadwork projects that are planned, in the works or already completed. Here’s what we discovered:
Which upgrades are planned for Highway 101, Wellsona Road?
Currently, the Wellsona Road intersection near Paso Robles lets vehicles cross Highway 101 unprotected.
It’s resulted in several broadside and left-turn merge-related collisions that have frequently proved fatal.
Over the past five years, 16 crashes have been reported at the intersection, including 14 multi-vehicle collisions and three fatalities, according to the California Department of Transportation.
This represents a higher fatal collision rate than the statewide average, the state road agency said.
In 2017, Caltrans announced plans to build an underpass at the site to reduce the number of collisions occurring at the location.
“This intersection has had a concentration of collisions that’s related to drivers not yielding to the right of way,” said Genelle Padilla, the public information officer for Caltrans’ District 5. “To alleviate that and to remedy those collisions, we’re doing the undercrossing so there’s another option to continue on Wellsona Road without having to go across an unprotected area on (Highway) 101.”
Project plans propose constructing a 112-foot bridge on Highway 101 just south of the existing Wellsona Road intersection.
The underpass would eliminate “the need for motorist to make left turns across traffic on Highway 101,” Caltrans said in a news release.
Construction was slated to start two years ago, but ground had yet to break on the project as of Thursday, Nov. 14.
Caltrans told the Tribune in August that the largest obstacle has been securing land-use permits — also known as right-of-way easements — from property owners in the area, pushing back the construction start date.
The $13.5 million project is fully funded by the State Highway Operational Protection Program, which sets aside funds specifically for public safety projects, but the contract still needs to be approved, Padilla said.
Once that happens, construction can finally begin.
Work could begin on the project in February 2025, she said.
It’s expected to be completed in April 2026.
“It’s obviously needed for travelers in this area,” Padilla said. “It will provide travelers a safe, protected way to travel across the 101.”
While construction is underway, it’s unlikely that there will be any full closures of either Highway 101 or Wellsona Road, she said.
However, drivers should expect some lane closures and traffic control once the project begins.
When will Cholame ‘Y’ flyover interchange be finished?
SLO County’s deadliest interchange is in the middle of a major upgrade.
In April 2023, Caltrans broke ground on a $148 million project that will bring a flyover interchange to the so-called Cholame “Y,” where Highways 41 and 46 meet in northern SLO County. It’s known colloquially as “Blood Alley.”
Over the past decade, more than 20 collisions and 11 deaths have occurred at or near the Y-shaped intersection.
The agency’s State Route 46 Corridor Improvement Project is meant to correct future traffic capacity problems as well as a higher-than-average fatal collision rate, Caltrans said.
It will construct an elevated interchange at the Cholame “Y.”
Once complete, the interchange will carry drivers over Highway 46 and merge them onto Highway 41 toward Fresno.
“The Corridor Project purpose is to minimize fatal accidents, improve safety and reduce existing and future peak-hour congestion on State Route 46 between Paso Robles and Cholame,” Caltrans said on its website.
The long-awaited project will also widen Highway 46 on the way to Kern County.
A 3.5-mile section of Highway 46 East up the Antelope Grade will be doubled from two lanes to four lanes — stretching from west of Davis Road to west of Antelope Road, the agency said.
The new Cholame “Y” interchange is anticipated to be open to traffic at the beginning of 2025, and the entire project will be completed by summer 2026, Padilla said.
Construction is complete in Nipomo. Has it made a difference?
Five people have died in crashes on Highway 101 within about a mile of the Tefft Street on- and off-ramps in Nipomo since 2014.
The intersection regularly backed up to the freeway, with drivers having to wait through multiple traffic light changes before managing to make it through the intersection.
Three years ago, the San Luis Obispo County Department of Public Works embarked on a project to relieve congestion and improve pedestrian access.
In April 2021, crews broke ground on the Tefft Street at Highway 101 Interchange Operational Improvement Project.
The southbound Highway 101 off-ramp gained a new left-turn lane, and the northbound off-ramp added a right-turn lane. Beforehand, both ramps only had two lanes.
The project also installed new traffic signals, as well as modified the timing of traffic signals.
The project was completed at the end of 2021.
Despite the improvements, two more people have died on Highway 101 near the Tefft Street on- and off-ramps since then.
One of the deadly crashes was the result of speeding, while the other involved a pedestrian who was struck and killed while walking across Highway 101, according to the CHP and the California’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
