Placer County is almost ready to open the new interchange at Highway 65 and Sunset Boulevard to motorists.

Sunset will be closed at Highway 65 for several days so contactors can remove traffic signals and shift traffic lanes to the new bridge that will take Sunset over the highway, according to a county press release.

Sunset was closed Thursday evening. County officials hope to open the new interchange at 5 a.m. Monday, March 15, but may need to postpone the opening until sometime later on Monday because of rain expected today.

Daily updates on the construction progress and the expected opening time for the interchange will be posted online at www.placersunset65.com. The Web site also has information on alternative routes for motorists to use while Sunset is closed.

The closure of Sunset will not impede traffic on Highway 65.

Sunset will be closed at Placer Corporate Drive and South Loop Road west of Highway 65 and at Atherton Road on the east side of the highway.

Motorists who normally would enter or exit Highway 65 at Sunset will need to use other intersections, such as the interchanges at Blue Oaks Boulevard and Twelve Bridges Drive.

The new interchange at Highway 65 and Sunset will eliminate the highway’s last intersection with traffic signals between Interstate 80 and Lincoln.

“The new interchange will reduce traffic congestion dramatically while making the highway safer,” said 2nd District Supervisor Robert M. Weygandt. “It also is of key importance in opening up the Sunset Industrial Area, the largest industrial park in Placer County. The interchange will make the area much more attractive as a job-creation center, and that is an important priority for Placer County.”

The new interchange includes a six-lane overpass to take Sunset traffic over the highway and will allow for Highway 65 to eventually be widened to eight lanes with auxiliary lanes.

The interchange has a partial-cloverleaf design with a circular onramp to move westbound Sunset traffic to the highway’s southbound lanes and a circular onramp for eastbound motorists on Sunset who want to head north on the highway.

Placer County, Rocklin and Roseville are contributing funding through the Highway 65 Joint Powers Authority, an agency they created to help finance four interchanges along Highway 65.

Funding for the JPA comes from traffic-mitigation fees paid by new developments. The interchanges at Stanford Ranch Road-Galleria Boulevard, Pleasant Grove Boulevard and Blue Oaks have been built already.

Funding for the Sunset Interchange includes a significant contribution by the United Auburn Indian Community.

The Highway 65-Sunset Interchange is separate from a much-larger project being built nearby: the Lincoln Bypass. The bypass is an 11.7-mile project being constructed west of the city of Lincoln from south of Industrial Boulevard to just past the community of Sheridan.