A construction project that begins Thursday, Feb. 10, is intended to deter drivers going from the 241 toll road to the eastbound 91 freeway from jumping the queue at the last minute when traffic is backed up.

During the afternoon rush, cars on the northbound 241 often back up on the ramp to the 91 heading east toward Corona – and some of them try to skip the line by staying in faster-moving lanes that connect to the westbound 91 and then cutting over before the lanes split.

It’s annoying, it’s rude, and it can cause collisions, so over the next six days, the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operate the 241 toll road, will install about 800 “channelizers,” vertical posts made of plastic polyurethane, that officials hope will “improve traffic flow and promote good driving habits by preventing queue-jumpers,” a news release said.

From Thursday evening until next Tuesday morning, the northbound 241 will be reduced at night to one lane, and the connector to the westbound 91 will completely closed. The closure will last from 8 p.m. all nights but Saturday, when it will close at 10 p.m., reopening in the morning at 5 a.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. on Saturday, and noon on Sunday.

Suggested detours are Santiago Canyon and Green River roads.

The $450,000 channelizer project is a first step toward a longer-term solution to congestion in the area: bridges that would move cars directly between the 241 toll road and the 91 express lanes.

That $180 million project is now being designed, with construction set to begin next year.

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