CHOLAME, Calif. - The long-planned goal to improve traffic safety at one of the dangerous stretches of roadway in San Luis Obispo County is near completion.
On Wednesday, Caltrans, along with various local officials, held a ribbon cutting to mark a major milestone in the project to build a new interchange at the intersection of Highways 46 and 41, often referred to as the "Cholame Y."
"We are super excited," said Scott Eades, Caltans District 5 Director. "This has been a long time coming. We've been working in this direction from Paso Robles for many years, and we finally were able to secure the funding we needed for the Y,and now we're opening it up for the first time to the traveling public."
Eades indicated traffic will start moving on the new overpass as soon as this week and will be the latest edition to the multi-year effort to increase safety in the vital cooridor.
"From what I understand, we'll see cars on here tomorrow," said Eades. "We are going to be opening in stages. We've been building it in segments for many years, trying to ultimately build from I-5 all the way to over to Highway 101 a four-lane divided highway. It's certainly needed from a safety standpoint."
The intersection has long been one of the most dangerous locations on any Central Coast roadway and has seen countless collisions through the years, including numerous fatalities, most notably actor James Dean, who was killed in a crash at the site in 1955.
"The old intersection was a notorious one, dating back to the James Dean era," said Darren Gennuso, Templeton CHP Commander. "There have been numerous lives that were lost in collisions. That was a scary intersection to, to drive through."
With the new overpass, drivers who are traveling eastbound and need to head onto Highway 41 will no longer have to turn left across oncoming traffic on the two-lane road.
"This connection and this change in this highway will help save lives," said Morro Bay Mayor Carla Wixom, who is also the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) Vice President. "We've lost many people, local residents from San Luis County that have just been traveling, to and from vacation, or visitors that are coming this way, and having this separation really is going to ensure a much safer passage for all of those who come to visit the Central Coast."
Wixom, who spoke during the 30-minute ceremony that was held right under the new overpass, also pointed out how important the two rural highways are to the Central Coast.
"This highway is a connector for so many things as far as agricultural connections from the I-5, the Central Valley over to 101 and north California," said Wixom. "From our farming areas, as well as commerce and tourism and all aspects of of those things that come into our county, so really, it's vital that we have these opportunities out here now for this new flyover and provide safer access for those that are coming through this area."
While the new overpass is now complete, there is still quite a bit of construction taking place in the surrounding area.
Just down the new road, two additional overpasses that are designed to also help enhance the safety in on the highway remain under construction.
"Those structures are providing throughput for the the local roads that go underneath Highway 46," said Eades. "Those were at grade before. Now there's full grade separation. It also provides for wildlife connectivity, so there's, you know deer and antelope and elk out here, and we designed the project to accommodate them and their ability to travel underneath 46. We channelized those through fencing and have these over crossings to be able to our structures to be able to let them move under as well."
Eades expects the other two overpasses to be completed sometime in 2026.
According to Caltrans, the overall cost of the new interchange project was $147 million.
Caltrans added the interchange is part of a larger, phased project to widen Highway 46 East from a two-lane highway to a four-lane expressway from east of the Shandon Rest area to east of Davis Road.
The first segment of widening in the corridor began near Paso Robles in 2008.
The next planned phase is widening Highway 46 East through the Antelope Grade, which is located near the Cholame Y.
The Antelope Grade project is expected to begin construction in spring 2027.
Overpass that ‘will help save lives’ at deadly Highway 46/41 intersection near Cholame set to open News Channel 3-12.
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