Part of I-15 will be closed Wednesday at the California-Nevada line

Southbound Interstate 15 will be closed at Yates Well Road just south of the California border from 1-4 a.m., and traffic will be diverted off the highway at Primm. Northbound traffic won’t be affected.

California Transportation Department crews will be installing an overhead sign for the soon-to-open California Highway Patrol Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility.

The new facility will allow California Highway Patrol officers to conduct inspections of commercial trucks to identify unsafe vehicles and equipment. The state eventually plans to replace its agricultural inspection station at the facility from Yermo, farther south on I-15.

While California officials are encouraging traffic to just stop at Primm where there is water, food and restrooms, there is a lesser-known detour motorists could take that is 37 miles out of the way and is a desolate two-lane road.

Motorists heading south could take U.S. Highway 95 south to Searchlight, then State Route 164, the Joshua Tree Highway, west into California. The highway becomes Nipton Road when it enters California, eventually rejoining I-15 south of Primm.

The Nevada Department of Transportation said on average, 45,220 vehicles crossed the Nevada-California line at Primm every day in April.

Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter. Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.