Caltrans unveils project to improve safety on HWY 62

Caltrans unveiled a new project to make Highway 62 safer for commuters in the High Desert. KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2’s Jeremy Chen was in Joshua Tree Wednesday morning to see how striping will help both pedestrians and bicyclists in the area.

Highway 62 in Joshua Tree is the main road in the High Desert, attracting drivers headed to Joshua Tree National Park. Traffic can get heavier at times making it difficult to navigate for local bicyclists such as Gary Benedict.

“We literally are what we call…’riding the paint’,” Benedict said. “Which is just riding on a white line with vehicles traveling by you at 65 miles per hour.”

Benedict said he travels up and down Highway 62 three times a week, riding for nearly 300 miles. He’s glad to see new striping which was unveiled on the highway by Caltrans Wednesday morning. It establishes clear bike lanes in the middle of Joshua Tree and keeps pedestrians safe from oncoming traffic.

“Maybe we can stay in a little bit better shape and have a safer route to even work,” Benedict added.

Officials with Caltrans said they developed the project last year after receiving input from the local community. It’s a way to create ‘complete streets’ that allows all types of commuters to share the road. They said Joshua Tree now has the first complete street to be implemented in a rural area on a state highway.

Terry Kasinga with Caltrans District 8 said, “We’re going to be using this as the pilot. We’re excited to be here today [Wednesday] and we’re happy to bring this to the Joshua Tree community.”

Benedict said he, “Would love to see formal bike lanes from Morongo Valley to Twentynine Palms,” at some point in the future.

Read: Travel News Headlines Check out your First Alert Weather Forecast More of today’s Top Stories from KESQ News Channel 3 & CBS Local 2