2024 Traffic Relief Plan approved for Riverside County

A plan for widening corridors, improving pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths, as well as making a series of repairs and upgrades to roads and bridges throughout Riverside County, will be implemented in the coming years, officials said today.

On Wednesday, the Riverside County Transportation Commission approved the "2024 Traffic Relief Plan," following several months of receiving public comments.

"The Traffic Relief Plan is a guide for improving our transportation system,'' RCTC Chairman Lloyd White said. "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. 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 contains a region-wide to-do list, and officials noted that the proposed $30 billion in transportation improvements include fortifying roads and spans against natural disasters, especially in the Coachella Valley.   

"The plan reflects input from thousands of voices across Riverside County, with residents sending a clear message: They want a reliable, safer, more efficient transportation system that anticipates growth, promotes prosperity and preserves the freedom to get from here to there without long waits,'' according to an RCTC statement.   

The last relief plan was circulated for public review in 2020. Officials said the latest one is intended to address ongoing population growth, and the pressures associated with that, most prominently greater burdens on transportation infrastructure.

"The 34-member commission, composed of elected representatives from every city in the county and all five members of the Board of Supervisors, will decide this summer what steps can be taken fund projects in the TRP,'' RCTC stated.

The plan summary and descriptions of funding opportunities are available at https://www.rctc.org/traffic-relief-plan/.