Anyone who has traveled through San Luis Obispo in the past year has undoubtedly come across the major construction occurring on Los Osos Valley Road (LOVR). The $33 million project will widen LOVR to four lanes and provide improved pedestrian and bicycle access in both directions, construct drainage improvements, and reconstruct all four freeway entrance and exit ramps.
In order to widen LOVR, a new bridge was constructed over the freeway. When the project is completed, all eastbound traffic will be regulated to this new bridge while all westbound traffic will remain on the existing structure.
While the area has seen a major overhaul since the project broke ground in October of 2014, some major changes are on the horizon for this month:
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Around August 13, the southbound Highway 101 off-ramp at LOVR will be relocated and vehicles will be required to exit via Calle Joaquin toward LOVR. Businesses will remain open, but there will be parking restrictions on Calle Joaquin.
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The southbound off-ramp traffic signal will be made non-functional, giving drivers on LOVR a constant green light. Motorists traveling westbound will no longer be able to access the southbound ramp and will have to enter the freeway on S. Higuera. The ramp will remain open for those going eastbound.
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Later in the month, eastbound and westbound traffic will be rerouted onto the new bridge in order for improvement to be made to the old bridge. There will temporarily be one lane of traffic in each direction, and with this, increased traffic delays are likely. It is recommended that people plan their schedules accordingly when traveling on LOVR.