Busy parts of Highway 41 reopen after ribbon cutting ceremony in Kings County

KINGS COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning marked the reopening of a large portion of Highway 41 in Kings County.

The busy stretch of highway has been closed for six months for various re-construction projects.

Cal trans says the improvements were necessary and took years to plan.

"This is the time we wait for, 4 to 5 years to design, 6 to 7 months to construct it. And now we are here cutting the ribbon and opening to the public making sure the public has a safe route to go through, so a very occasional moment," said Harpreet Binning, the Deputy Director of Construction District 6.

The project included the replacement of the Stratford Kings River Bridge, Kettleman Pavement Rehabilitation from Quail Avenue to Nevada Avenue.

It also included Stratford-Lemoore Pavement Rehabilitation from Nevada Avenue to State Route 198.

"This is a pivotal moment for our society in Kings County. As the community grows, Fresno grows and Tulare County grows, we need to improve our infrastructure and this was a big component that was in the way," expressed Kings County Board of Supervisor Doug Verboon.

Verboon says the closure re-routed thousands of drivers daily.

Especially visitors traveling to and from the Central Coast and Central Valley.

Kings County Sheriff David Robinson says the improvements and getting things back to normal means safer roads for travelers.

"When 41 is down it creates a problem for us, and because you have a lot of people taking roads they are not familiar with and so you see a lot of incidents as a result of that. So, we are excited people can get back to the main highway and get to and from their location they need to get to safely," Sheriff Robinson explained.

The re-opening also means local businesses along highway 41 will see their normal flow of customers passing through.

"They need the revenue for the people traveling through for fuel, gas, and snacks. Bravo Farms was really impacted. So anybody that went through Avenal, it impacted Avenal because they had too much traffic, and not enough traffic in Kettleman City, Stratford didn't have any traffic," recalled Verboon.

Verboon says there are plans to improve roads that were impacted by the detours, and hopefully expand highway 41 in the future.