 In the late 2000s , planning began for a bypass around the downtown portion of the city of Brawley . An expressway would carry the routing of SR 78 north and east of the city , with an interchange at SR 111 , before intersecting with the current alignment of SR 78 . A Swedish company began construction on this bypass in April 2008 ; the first phase consisted of the portion of the bypass that is solely SR 111 . The second phase of the bypass , from the western junction with SR 111 to the eastern junction with SR 78 , lasted from February 2008 to June 2011 . On the third phase of the project , from the junction with SR 86 west of Brawley to the western end of the completed bypass , construction began in late 2010 . This project was identified in August 2010 as a project that could be affected by California state budget cuts . The Brawley Bypass , as it was known , opened on October 30 , 2012 . 
