91 Freeway lane cuts near Corona turned weekend drives into 2-hour ordeals — and it happens again next week
A $6 million Caltrans project slashed the eastbound 91 from seven lanes to three between Orange County and the Inland Empire, and the same closure returns Friday night.
Drivers who battled bumper-to-bumper traffic on the eastbound 91 Freeway this past weekend should brace for a repeat: the same lane restrictions that turned an 11-mile stretch near Corona into a two-and-a-half-hour crawl are scheduled to return Friday night, Nov. 13, and run through 5 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16.
The first 55-hour closure — which began Friday evening and lifted around 5 a.m. Monday — reduced the freeway's seven eastbound lanes to just three between State Route 241 in Anaheim Hills and Green River Road in Corona. The work is part of a $6 million Caltrans project to replace culvert segments beneath the freeway, improving drainage and creating a wildlife crossing linkage. The full project is slated for completion by fall 2027, according to NBC Los Angeles.
The bottleneck hit hardest Saturday evening, when traffic spilled off the freeway and onto surface streets in surrounding neighborhoods. Some drivers reported fewer than three lanes open at points during the weekend, despite Caltrans' stated plan, according to ABC7.
For me to go roughly 11 miles last night was about two-and-a-half hours. We were giving members three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half hour ETAs due to the severity of the calls and the amount of traffic.— Griffin McElveen, tow company worker
Five miles per hour. It's bad.— Jenea Parks, driver
Parks told CBS News that what should be a 10-mile drive home could take at least two hours — with a young child in the car. Others abandoned plans altogether.
We're gonna travel down to the beach area and have some ribs, and all the food was made. And by the time that the pictures were sent out for prepared meal, everyone canceled because they didn't want to get on that 91 East traffic on the way back.— Cullen Livingston, driver
Frustration also centered on the closure of the FasTrak express lanes — a paid service — during the construction window.
They closed the express lane that people are paying for, the FasTrak. So if we're going to be paying for that out of pocket and we can't even use that freeway, that's a shame.— Christian Evans, Eastvale resident
It's aggravating and frustrating. Because there's no other way of going around it. We looked at alternate routes, and no matter what we tried, there's only one route. You can only go one way.— Jetino Marks, Corona resident
In addition to the lane reductions, Caltrans has also closed the northbound SR-241 to eastbound SR-91 connector, the eastbound Gypsum Canyon Road on-ramps, and the eastbound Green River Road off-ramp during the work windows, according to NBC Los Angeles.
For the coming weekend, Caltrans recommends taking State Route 57 to State Route 60 and then Interstate 15 as the primary alternate route. ABC7 also notes Carbon Canyon as an option. Drivers can check live conditions through Caltrans' QuickMap tool.
Why it matters — Anyone driving eastbound on the 91 between Orange County and the Inland Empire faces another full weekend of severe delays starting Friday night, Nov. 13, with limited alternate routes and no quick fix until the project wraps in fall 2027.
⚠ Not yet confirmed
- Some drivers reported fewer than three lanes being open at times during the closure
Reported by abc7.com, cbsnews.com, nbclosangeles.com
