The Point: The Traffic Relief Plan identifies more than $30 billion in transportation improvements across Riverside County for Riverside County residents
We’ve listened! The Riverside County Transportation Commission approved the Traffic Relief Plan (TRP or Plan) on April 10, 2024, to help provide Riverside County residents with a reliable, safer, more efficient transportation system that will accommodate the County’s growing population and economy.
The TRP is an aspirational plan that identifies an ambitious set of priority transportation projects and services based on input from thousands of residents throughout the County. As such, the Plan is meant to identify transportation projects that will help reduce traffic and offer mobility options to help Riverside County residents get to where they need to go.
“The Traffic Relief Plan is a guide for improving our 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 RCTC Chair Lloyd White and Beaumont City Council Member. “By coming together to approve this plan, the Commission is working to ensure Riverside County remains a place of opportunity and not a region known for traffic.”
The Plan features more than $30 billion in transportation improvements across seven transportation categories, including:
Safe Streets and Roads – Example projects include: keeping roads in good condition; sidewalks and pedestrian safety infrastructure; protected bicycle lanes; roadway improvements in high-accident areas; bus shelters; bridge repairs; improvements to railroad crossings; improvements to provide accessibility for persons with disabilities.
Highways – Example projects include: improving traffic flow on State Routes 60, 91, 111 and Interstates 10, 15, and 215 by constructing new lanes, improving highway interchanges (on- and off-ramps and bridges) and public transportation facilities, expanding Freeway Service Patrol roadside assistance, and utilizing innovative technologies.
Public Transportation – Example projects include: increasing frequency and safety of passenger trains and buses; building new tracks, parking, and stations; extending rail service from Perris to Hemet and San Jacinto; exploring mass transit options on the I-15 corridor; extending rail service to the Coachella Valley and San Gorgonio Pass (Banning/Beaumont/Calimesa/Cabazon area) from Los Angeles and Orange counties; and improving connections between home, school, and employment centers.
Regional Connections – Example projects include: constructing multi-modal transportation corridors that connect parts of Riverside County, relieving congestion on existing highways and local roads, improving safety such as realigning State Route 79 as a County road; creating a bypass to I-10 between Banning and Coachella Valley; improving Van Buren Boulevard; and providing a new Elsinore-Ethanac Expressway.
Active Transportation – Example projects include: improving safety and expanding access to pedestrian and bicycle facilities such as sidewalks and bicycle lanes, in addition to improving and expanding recreational trails and access to open spaces and natural areas.
Environmental Mitigation – To achieve balanced growth of the region, to ensure transportation projects can move forward, withstand natural hazards, and provide for a high quality of living for current and future generations of Riverside County residents, the TRP makes meaningful commitments to environmental stewardship.
Flood Control and Blowsand – Example projects include: reinforcing roadways and infrastructure against natural hazards in the Coachella Valley such as on Indian Canyon, Gene Autry Trail, and Dillon Road.
Residents are encouraged to read the Plan at TrafficReliefPlan.org.
Later this summer, Commissioners representing every city in the County and all five members from the County Board of Supervisors will decide what steps can be taken to fund projects in the TRP.