Work to repair Highway 395 above Topaz Lake will start next month

Work on a section of Highway 395 at High Point Curve may leave it a little less curvy above Topaz Lake, the California Department of Transportation said on Friday.

The project will realign a half-mile-long portion of the highway that sustained heavy winter storm damage when its starts on July 10, officials said.

“Once the repair project is complete, the pavement through this section will shift away from the lake, straightening out the current curve of the road.”

Construction is expected to last throughout summer and into fall. Highway 395 will remain open with traffic control measures for the duration of the project.

Starting July 6, crews will perform a minor realignment of the current traffic control area before construction begins. During construction hours, there will be one-way traffic control with flaggers. Outside construction hours, the traffic control signal currently in place along Topaz Lake will conduct the one-way traffic control.

“Drivers should be aware that traffic may be temporarily stopped due to construction, and crews may need to shift from one-way traffic control to pilot car-led traffic escorts,” according to CalTrans officials. “When traffic escorts are in place, drivers may experience 20-minute delays.”

This year’s record winter has been rough on roads across the Sierra.

Big cracks developed on Highway 395 near the curve during the weekend of April 15-16 forcing the road down to one lane controlled by a stoplight.

It was a rough winter along Highway 395, which spent around six weeks closed after a series of avalanches closed it between Mono City and Lee Vining at the end of February.