Southbound Interstate 5 to be closed overnight in Kern County

A stretch of Interstate 5 near Kern County's Buttonwillow area will be closed Tuesday night into Wednesday morning as crews work on the next stage of a three-year effort to replace about 18 miles of pavement in the area.

Both of the freeway’s southbound lanes will be shut down near the intersection of California 119 at 6 p.m. Tuesday, said Caltrans spokesman Jose Camarena. Traffic will be detoured during the closure, which is expected to end at 6 a.m. on Wednesday.

Also scheduled to end Wednesday was a 48-hour closure of an off-ramp from the northbound side of the freeway to California 58. Another 48-hour closure, affecting the ramp from California 58 to northbound I-5, will go into effect Wednesday morning.

The construction is part of a $33-million effort to remove pavement from the area and put down reinforced concrete along both directions of the freeway, Camarena said. The project, which began in the spring of 2011, is scheduled to be completed next summer.

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— Kate Mather

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Image: Appoximate location of closure shown in red. Credit: Google Maps