Highway 198 and Lovers Lane rehabilitation project underway in Visalia

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Lovers Lane in Visalia is getting a facelift with Caltrans' rehabilitation project from the Highway 198 intersection to Houston Avenue and down to McAuliff Street.

Locals say the improvements are welcome as the heavily traveled road has been in need of some care.

Jabed Khan lives in the area, he shared a bicycle camera video with Action News of his weekly rides with Southern Sierra Cyclists.

"This is definitely going to be very helpful for us, especially when we ride bikes. every time we go to that intersection, there are so many potholes, I am more worried about dodging potholes than saving myself from the cars," expresses Jabed.

Caltrans is working alongside the Tulare County Association of Governments and the City of Visalia to complete the $44M project.

The goal goes beyond beautifying Visalia; it's making roads safer for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

"This is a very important project for the area. We have been working on his project for some time now. One of the unique items for this project is that we have a couple of different types of funding," says Kurt Hatton, with the Caltrans District 6 Project Management team.

A groundbreaking event Thursday at Mill Creek Park celebrated the project, which started last fall.

If you travel the busy road, you will already notice a one lane closure for southbound traffic on Lovers Lane through Noble Avenue.

That will be the case for the next five months..

After that, Caltrans will focus its work on the Northbound lanes and eventually change to the 198 intersection.

"So Mineral King won't have access to lovers lane directly from the east side anymore but that is to accommodate that westbound off-ramp, because there is a sizable amount of congestion during the day, and we are trying to avoid having traffic that backs out on to 198," explains Christian Lukens, with Caltrans District 6 public information.

Despite the temporary disruption, Caltrans says the redesign was necessary.

The California Highway Patrol agrees that improvements are needed, as it's one of the busiest off-ramps in the area, especially during commute hours.

"Traffic backing up on the freeway is always a bad thing. We have traffic that flows at 65 miles. So, now vehicles coming up to this traffic will have to either slam on their brakes or swerve to avoid causing a traffic collision," mentions Officer Adrian Gonzalez with Visalia CHP.

It will be at least a couple of years before the full project is complete. In the meantime, drivers are urged to slow down when they see construction zones.

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