The Point: Work to start this summer through “Badlands” area
The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) awarded a $106 million contract January 9 to Skanska USA Civil West to build the State Route 60 Truck Lanes Project in unincorporated Riverside County.
This project will widen a 4.5-mile section of Route 60 between Gilman Springs Road and 1.4 miles west of Jack Rabbit Trail through unincorporated Riverside County between Moreno Valley and Beaumont. The project segment lies within mountainous terrain with a curving alignment and steep grades.
The project is designed to improve safety and efficiency and reduce traffic congestion.
“This long-awaited project will help save lives, since this stretch of Route 60 experiences higher than average traffic collisions that cause fatalities, injuries, and delays,” said RCTC Chair Chuck Washington, who also serves as a Riverside County Supervisor. “The new lanes will improve cross-county travel, including better access to employment and tourism destinations in the Coachella Valley, further boosting our economy. In addition, the project will allow locally-based Skanska USA to add construction jobs in Riverside County,” Washington said.
Additional project features include: widening shoulders to standard widths – 12-foot exterior shoulders and 11-foot interior shoulders, establishing 23 wildlife crossings and placing wildlife fencing, and improving motorist sight distance by flattening roadway curves.
RCTC expects to start construction in mid-2019 and to open the new lanes in approximately late 2021. During construction, one westbound lane will be closed for about six months, which will allow the project to be completed up to a year earlier. Up to four weekend closures and nightly lane closures also will be needed.
Construction funding will be provided by a combination of sources, including Federal, State, and Measure A, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements in Riverside County.
For more project information, visit rctc.org/60trucklanes.