Oversized load scheduled to pass through Benson requires brief closure of eastbound Interstate 10 early Sunday
Eastbound Interstate 10 will be closed briefly on Sunday morning (Feb. 19) to allow an oversized tractor trailer hauling turbines to a California energy plant to travel west in the eastbound lanes approaching the junction with State Route 90 near Benson, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
The planned 30-minute closure is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. so that the truck, measuring 177-feet long weighing nearly 600,000 pounds, can travel west from the exit ramp at State Route 80 (Exit 303) to the entrance ramp at SR 90 (Exit 302).
The closure is the third for a series of oversized loads traveling from Texas to California, where energy plants are under construction. Sunday’s closure is to accommodate a truck hauling a turbine to a coal-powered energy plant in Palm Springs, California.
The interstate closures are necessary because the oversized trucks are too long to get through the exit from westbound I-10 at SR 90 and too heavy to pass over a bridge on State Route 82 that would otherwise provide an alternate route.
The Department of Public Safety will stop eastbound I-10 traffic at the SR 90 overpass as well as all SR 90 traffic at I-10 to allow the truck or trucks to make the one-mile trip.
Westbound traffic will not be affected.
Once the trucks have moved off I-10, the eastbound lanes will reopen and traffic on SR 90 will be allowed to continue. Motorists should prepare for a delay of 30 minutes during the closure and are advised to avoid the area if possible.
Additional closures are expected in coming weeks and ADOT will provide information on future closures before they occur.
