News Release Archive

Reclamation to temporarily close portions of the S-24 Highway near Imperial Dam for public safety due to road construction activities

Motorists from California using S-24 Highway to access Yuma Proving Ground should use alternate routes beginning the week of November 17

Media Contact: Doug Hendrix, (928) 343-8145, 11/14/2014 16:15

For Release: November 14, 2014

Yuma, Ariz. -- Reclamation's Yuma Area Office is alerting motorists traveling to the Yuma Proving Ground from the California border area via the S-24 Highway that they will need to use alternate routes beginning the week of November 17. Reclamation contractors will begin intermittently closing portions of the highway near Imperial Dam to accommodate paving and resurfacing activities. Over the next several weeks, complete closure of a 1.28-mile section of the S-24 Highway will be necessary on an intermittent basis to ensure public safety and accommodate installation of new drainage culverts beneath the new roadway.

No public access of the Yuma Proving Ground via the S-24 Highway traveling east from California to Yuma Proving Ground will be permitted until construction activities are substantially complete. The remainder of the S-24 Highway, including the entrance to the Yuma Proving Ground from the Arizona side traveling west on S-24 from U.S. Route 95, will remain open during the construction period. The road and culvert construction work is expected to be completed in mid-December.

During construction, access to the Hidden Shores recreation area will be available only from the California S-24 route. The portion of the S-24 highway extending from the California-Arizona border to the perimeter of the western entrance to the Yuma Proving Ground will be closed for approximately one week or longer to accommodate the much needed road repairs.

"The S-24 Highway near Imperial Dam was originally paved in the late-1970s," said Maria Ramirez, Area Manager of Reclamation's Yuma Area Office. "Although portions of this highway have been resurfaced since then, some of the pavement has deteriorated substantially over the past several decades and needs to be addressed."

Resurfacing and repair of the S-24 roadbed in this area will consist of excavation and re-milling of the existing roadbed, grading of roadway shoulders and installation of new guard rails, drainage culverts and headwall structures. In conducting the road maintenance activities, the contractor will be operating bulldozers and excavators, haul trucks and pavement milling machinery in this area.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.