Gene Autry/Palm Drive Interchange Approved By County

RIVERSIDE -The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today approved a contractor’s bid to reconfigure a frequently clogged freeway interchange in the Coachella Valley.

Skanska USA, the North American subsidiary of a Stockholm-based construction company, was chosen from a total of nine firms that bid on the Palm Drive/Gene Autry Trail Interchange Improvement project.

Skanska estimates it can complete the interchange overhaul for roughly $17 million — half of what transportation officials originally predicted it would cost.

“We are indeed very excited to bring this project to you. It’s been over 10 years in the making,” county Transportation Department Director Juan Perez told the board.

The interchange, located near Cathedral City, has become a notorious bottleneck for rush-hour traffic.

Plans call for widening the Palm Drive/North Gene Autry Trail overpass at Interstate 10 to six lanes, as well as constructing loop ramps in a partial cloverleaf configuration to ease traffic flow.

Crews will also expand the nearby bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, according to county Transportation Department documents, which state the modifications will “increase capacity and improve the daily operation for current and future traffic volumes.”

“It’s going to be an enormous benefit to the traveling public,” Perez said.

A mix of federal stimulus funds, mitigation fees paid by developers and appropriations from the city of Palm Springs and county Redevelopment Agency will cover the project’s costs.

Work on the two-year reconfiguration is slated to start next month and create some 350 construction jobs, according to Perez. A Feb. 26 groundbreaking ceremony is planned.

“This is occurring at a time when a lot of people need jobs,” said Supervisor John J. Benoit, in whose district the interchange is located.

He called the project and three other intersection upgrades in the Coachella Valley slated to begin in the next year “a good sign for future development and getting people back to work.”

Skanska USA is also working on a multi-phase project in San Bernardino that involves adding lanes along a 7.5-mile stretch of Interstate 215.

Riverside County endorsed that project and urged federal funding because of the hundreds of construction jobs it has created in the Inland Empire.