Some long-awaited improvements at Interstate 5 and Gas Point Road are scheduled to begin construction in September and reach completion in October, said Shasta County Public Works Director Pat Minturn.

The signalization and widening of Gas Point Road is expected to expedite traffic between I-5 and Rhonda Road; but most importantly, it should alleviate traffic backing-up onto the freeway.

“It’s a little scary waiting there with people going by at 70 mph,” said Judy Rodola, who has been driving that route to go to work at Knox Realty for 10 years.

Rodola said the traffic is at its worst during commute times, Little League games and weekdays when school lets out at around 2:30 p.m.

The county and Caltrans have cooperated to fund the construction of stoplights at the Gas Point and Rhonda roads intersection as well as at the on- and off-ramps to I-5 on the southbound side of the freeway.

The improvement would involve a slight widening of Gas Point Road to allow for three lanes of westbound traffic on the west side of the overpass, including a signal-controlled turning lane onto southbound I-5.

The extra lane through to the Rhonda Road intersection would decrease the number of cars that wait on the off-ramp for Gas Point Road to clear of traffic, Minturn said. That should allow about four more cars to queue at the Rhonda Road intersection, he said.

Caltrans agreed to pay $500,000 of the project at a time when costs were escalating, Minturn said.

“We got a really good deal,” he said. “We were surprised by the low bids — it’s really miraculous.”

Ron Hale Construction of Redding submitted the winning low bid of $652,000; but Minturn said the county would eventually pay $800,000 for the project as some additional utility relocation work would be involved.