The Mid County Parkway project is one step closer to becoming reality. Last week, a Riverside County Court judge upheld RCTC’s environmental impact report, meaning the project passes muster with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The Mid County Parkway project is a proposed east-west,16-mile highway corridor linking Perris and San Jacinto between Interstate 215 and State Route 79. It is an important project to ensure RCTC continues to meet Riverside County’s future transportation needs and will help commuters save time as it establishes important new connection points in our county.
In order to demonstrate fiscal responsibility and a commitment to protecting the environment, RCTC undertook a thorough environmental review process starting in November 2004.
That plan was then challenged in federal and county courts by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Riverside’s Hills, Sierra Club, Friends of the Northern San Jacinto Valley and the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society.
RCTC’s plan has now prevailed in federal and county court, although the plaintiffs have the opportunity to appeal this ruling.
This same group of plaintiffs has also filed suit to halt the SR-60 Truck Climbing Lanes project. These proposed truck climbing lanes would provide critical safety improvements along SR-60 in an area known as the Badlands. The case is expected to be heard in 2018, delaying this critical safety project.
Mid County Parkway will be built in phases, beginning with a new interchange at I-215 and Placentia Avenue in Perris. Design of the interchange is underway and construction could begin by late 2019. This is the first of ten interchanges that will be built as part of Mid County Parkway, providing needed mobility to Riverside County residents.
Measure A, Riverside County’s voter-approved half-cent sales tax for transportation projects is funding Mid County Parkway.
To learn more about Mid-County Parkway, check out this link to the project page.