Coachella Valley Saving Millions on I-10 Projects

Interchange improvements are being made along Interstate 10. Drivers who deal with the daily congestion said they are relieved to see something being done.

“It’s about time. My gosh, it’s a mess trying to get across in the morning,” said one driver on Gene Autry Trail.

For two months now, there has been construction on two interchange projects: one at Ramon Road and Bob Hope Drive, the other at Palm Drive and Gene Autry Trail.

Both have been major traffic trouble spots.

When finished, they’ll include new overcrossings with new on-and-off ramps.

“Actually, the work is slightly ahead of schedule, on both projects,” said Allyn Waggle with the Coachella Valley Association of Governments.

Another interchange project at Indian Canyon and I-10 in Palm Springs is expected to begin in August and take about 18 months to complete.

The estimated cost for that job was $25.5 million.

But the bid came in at $9 million less.

Bids were also much lower than expected for the first two projects, saving the Coachella Valley tens of millions of dollars, according to officials.

“All this money is dedicated to transportation improvement. What we don’t use here, we’ll use down the road,” said Waggle.

The next three projects will be at Monterey Avenue, Jefferson Street and Date Palm Drive.