Construction Begins Soon For Two I-10 Overpass Projects

THOUSAND PALMS – Construction will begin soon to rebuild two major interchanges in the Coachella Valley, and the removal of the longtime bottleneck above Interstate 10 at Ramon Road.

Perhaps because of the economy, the winning bid for the project at the freeway at Ramon Road came in at $22.4 million, $18 million less than originally anticipated. Work there starts Feb. 3.

Bids have also been opened for a new interchange on Interstate 10 at the Palm Drive/Gene Autry Trail crossing, which will cost $17 million, just over half the anticipated cost. Construction there starts later in February.

Near Ramon Road, Bob Hope Drive will be extended north over the Union Pacific railroad tracks and across the freeway, to line up with Rio Del Sol Road.

New off- and onramps will link the freeway to Ramon Road via the new Bob Hope Drive extension. All of the ramps at Ramon Road will be removed, except the eastbound Interstate 10 onramp.

That will remove a significant bottleneck on Ramon Road over the freeway, where a narrow bridge and adjacent frontage road traffic signal frequently cause traffic to back up onto the interstate, officials said.

At the freeway’s interchange with Palm Drive and Gene Autry Trail, the existing diamond-style interchange will be replaced with a new, wide overcrossing that will eliminate thousands of left turns daily with curved

ramps in a partial-cloverleaf configuration, planners said.

Both interchanges were designed and built in the 1950s, when the freeway was known as U.S. 60-99 and when the Coachella Valley was largely undeveloped sand. Neither has been widened or improved in more than 50 years.

Both projects are expected to take two years.