Stretch of Hwy 173 reopens to two-way traffic

By TIM WILCOX

Special to the Alpine Mountaineer

Many Lake Arrowhead motorists and other drivers welcomed the reopening last week of Highway 173 just below Mountains Community Hospital to two-way traffic.

For more than 30 months, that short stretch of roadway had been under around-the-clock, automated traffic control due to a major Caltrans project. Motorists experienced the inconvenience of waiting as long as four minutes at one of the project’s two stoplights, which regulated the single-lane flow of north- and southbound traffic through the site.

The $10.7 million “solider wall and realignment” project was launched in April 2021. According to Caltrans, the primary objectives of the project, which is still under way, are “to construct a soil nail wall, replace the old guardrail with a concrete barrier mounted to a 15-foot solider pile wall and slightly realign the roadway.”

The bottom-line goal is to reinforce the hillside and lakeside slopes, mitigate erosion and, in the event of especially heavy rainfall, prevent a catastrophic slide.

Anyone who’s driven past the construction site recognizes that this is an enormous undertaking. The completed wall, displaying impressive, fortress-like stonework, looms over the eastern side of the roadway. Work continues on the western perimeter, immediately above the headquarters of Arrowhead Lake Association, with no specific completion date announced at this point.

Emily Leinen is the external affairs office chief for Caltrans District 8, based in downtown San Bernardino. “Our projections are necessarily fluid,” she said. “Initially, we identified a broad target date of sometime in 2023. But, accounting for any winter weather issues, we also reported that it could continue into 2025.”

The vexing issue of daily traffic delays appears to be history, however, thanks to the recent paving of the entire two-lane stretch between the western and eastern parts of the project. It’s a surprise holiday gift for Lake Arrowhead commuters and any other motorists who regularly traverse that section of Highway 173.