East 91 Freeway In Corona Closing 3 Nights A Week Through November

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Beginning next week and continuing through November, the eastbound Riverside (91) Freeway in Corona will be shut down during the overnight hours, three days a week, for work on an interchange improvement project.

The nighttime closures are slated to get underway on Monday, Oct. 16, with all eastbound 91 lanes out of service from Green River Road to Serfas Club Drive, on the west end of Corona.

The lane closures will be in effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. The same closures will be implemented again on Tuesday, Oct. 17, and Wednesday, Oct. 18, according to the Riverside County Transportation Commission.

The agency said that the Monday-to-Wednesday schedule will be maintained, weather-permitting, to Nov. 30.

In addition to the general purpose lanes, the two toll lanes on the eastbound 91 will be shut down at the same time.

RCTC officials plan to hold a Zoom news briefing on Wednesday afternoon to provide further details.

The closures are required for the "71/91 Interchange Project," which entails replacing the current single-lane connector from the eastbound 91 to the Corona (71) Expressway with a two-lane connector loop, which will facilitate a larger volume of vehicles at one time, reducing congestion.

The $137 million project got underway in February.

RCTC said in a statement that the nighttime closures will "allow crews to safely construct support structures for the new connector."

The Green River Road on-ramp to the eastbound 91 will also have to be shut down for traffic safety during the work.

RCTC recommended that motorists avoid the eastbound 91 during the overnight hours Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, starting next week, and instead utilize the Pomona (60) Freeway to the north as an alternate. Otherwise, traffic will be crammed into a single lane, taken off the freeway at Green River Road and funneled through the city to downtown, where drivers can rejoin the eastbound 91.

Along with expanding the connector itself, the 71/91 Interchange Project will also involve adding an eastbound auxiliary lane to the 91 and realigning the Green River Road on-ramp. The expressway, too, will be realigned to create space for the new connector.

Officials said that a wildlife crossing will be one of the other features of the reconfigured interchange.

The project is expected to conclude sometime in 2025.

More than one-third of the project funding — $58.1 million — is being provided by the California Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017, which hiked gasoline taxes to pay for infrastructure and other projects. The county's Measure A revenue, which is generated by a half-cent sales tax, is also covering a share of the expense, while federal and other sources make up the difference.

Updates on the project are available at www.rctc.org/71-91interchange.