Parts of Highway 91 to close Friday, Saturday in Corona

Pesky on the best of days, Highway 91 promises to be downright unbearable this weekend thanks to a series of closures.

Caltrans has scheduled 11-hour freeway closures in Corona overnight Friday and Saturday. The closures are part of the Green River Road bridge replacement project. They were slated to happen in January, but rain interfered.

Friday's closure of the westbound lanes at Green River Road is expected to begin at 10 p.m. and will last until 9 a.m. Saturday. The eastbound side won't be much better as the highway will be reduced to two lanes from 11:30 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday. In the evening, all eastbound lanes will be closed at 11 p.m. Saturday until 10 a.m. Sunday.

That portion of Highway 91 snakes through Santa Ana River Canyon and there are no viable side streets around the construction, Caltrans spokesman Darin Cooke warned.

Motorists driving eastbound from Orange and Los Angeles counties on Highway 91 Saturday night can expect major delays, only to be turned around at Gypsum Canyon Road.

Drivers heading westbound on Highway 91 Friday will be diverted to Highway 71, backing it up for several hours as well. Caltrans is pleading with drivers to use alternate routes, including Interstate 10 and Highway 60 for drivers going to and from the Inland Empire and Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The closure is part of the $21 million Green River Road Bridge project by Caltrans, Corona, the Riverside County Transportation Commission and the Federal Highway Commission. The Green River Road freeway overpass is the last old bridge that needs to be rebuilt to pave the way for improvements to Highway 91.

Caltrans officials plan to close Highway 91 entirely one weekend in the upcoming months to demolish the old Green River Bridge.