Traffic In Southwest Riverside County: Plan Approved To Fix It

SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The Riverside County Transportation Commission has approved what it calls a "historic transportation strategy" designed to relieve traffic congestion and improve mobility countywide.

How the ambitious Traffic Relief Plan gets put into action is still up in the air.

The RCTC approved the plan on Wednesday. The document identifies more than $30 billion in transportation improvements, including local road upgrades, pothole repairs, highway improvements, public transportation expansion, walk/bike/hike routes, and safeguards to protect roads and bridges from natural disasters.

The plan is intended to address pressures placed on transportation infrastructure from the county's ongoing population growth.

Residents had months to weigh in on a draft of the plan, and the RCTC said it received feedback "from thousands of voices across Riverside County."

In Western Riverside County — which includes areas west of the Coachella Valley, including the southwest areas of Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula and Wildomar — highways were identified as needing the most investment. Public transportation was next.

Active transportation, such as safe routes for bicyclists and pedestrians, was identified as needing the least investment even though the western region lacks substantial safety infrastructure such as protected bike lanes.

RCTC Chair Lloyd White said the Traffic Relief Plan "is a guide" for improving the county's transportation system.

"If we can clear up bottlenecks for better-flowing freeways and provide greater mobility options, our residents will spend less time in traffic congestion and more time living life," said White, who also serves on the Beaumont City Council.

The 34-member RCTC, composed of elected representatives from every city in the county and all five members of the county Board of Supervisors, will decide this summer how to begin funding the plan's projects.

Read the Traffic Relief Plan here.