I-Team: New CV Link Expansion Interests

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (KESQ) - There's a renewed interest in bringing the CV Link to at least one of the two Coachella Valley cities that initially rejected the alternative transportation pathway 10 years ago. 

Maybe you've ridden or walked along it, following its grand openings in November. The 40-mile roadway connects several cities through most of the Coachella Valley, with a few notable exceptions, including Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells.

We're asking questions and getting answers as city leaders in Indian Wells say there may be a path forward in bringing the path to their city. The path is for people riding bikes, walking, or driving a slow-speed electric vehicle, keeping them separated from normal street traffic.

Indian Wells City leaders are mindful that their residents voted against the CV link running through the city in a 2016 ballot measure H. But times have changed, and its benefits have not been lost on those who see it as a potentially easier path to the tennis garden and other local destinations.

Indian Wells Mayor Toper Taylor said, "So I think what's changed is we have a younger population, a more active population, but with that said, some of the key issues still remain.

City leaders say they're aware of people on the CV Link in golf carts, riding bikes, or maybe walking that dead-end at the city limits, both from La Quinta and Palm Desert. Then they have to navigate with traffic.

So we're asking about the solutions they're looking into, to address this public safety issue.

I asked City Councilmember Greg Sanders, "Have you seen any alternate routes, any other routes that would make sense today?" Sanders said, "No."

But City leaders say Highway 111, Fred Waring Drive, even Hovley Lane east to Washington Street could all be potential routes.

In 2017, former Councilmember Ty Peabody told Jeff Stahl the city's residents were clear, they didn't want the CV Link in Indian Wells.

Ty Peabody said at the time, "Unless the council, or another council, overrides that vote, it's a done deal.. We're out."

Sanders responded to Peabody's concerns over routes and views saying, "Well, he may be right again. We've put the ball into CVAG's court. Show us some alternatives, and there may not be an acceptable alternative."

Mayor Taylor said, "Ty Peabody, at the time, along by the way, with Rancho Mirage, had you know a very strong position that they wanted to wait and see, right?"

We've been going through the same original documents former Rancho Mirage Citycouncilmember, the late Dana Hobart examined as he battled CVAG while questioning the path's funding and proposed routing through his city. He wasn't alone. Rancho Mirage voters also said no to the link.

Rancho Mirage City Councilmember Steve Downs said, "Those businesses and those homeowners associations did not like that idea at all, and they were very vocal about it."

Today, Downs says City leaders have not heard from any significant number of residents who want it, but they say they'd be willing to consider it again, if they did hear that desire expressed.

The City of Palm Desert is isolated to the west and east from the link. A father with his kids we spoke to said they ride it nearly daily, and would love to see the path extend into Rancho Mirage.

"Golly, that would be amazing," said Kevin Moody adding, "That would be amazing to be able to go all the way across, or Rancho Mirage to go across the valley. It would be incredible."

Downs said, "If we visit that issue again in the future, it'll be the voters who made that decision then, then, and who would make the decision in the future."

In the meantime, Rancho Mirage City leaders say they have 40 miles of well-marked bike lanes throughout the city.

And in Indian Wells, City leaders say they are considering the CV Link, but the city is squeezed when it comes to potential routes for it.

Jeff Stahl asked Taylor is there is a viable path right now for the CV link through Indian Wells? Taylor replied, "So we're waiting for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments to share with us some of the ideas that they have for places a CV link could go in the city of Indian Wells." He adds, at the same time, they may not need it due to the city's wide streets and wide sidewalks. 

CVAG originally proposed routing the path along the Whitewater Wash and through the Indian Wells Golf Resort-- or along Highway 111. Both ideas were rejected. City leaders also don't want it running through its single-family neighborhoods-- Fairway-- also wide open-- is not an option.

We asked the Coachella Valley Association of Governments about Indian Wells' renewed interest in the CV Link. In a statement, it's Executive Director Tom Kirk replied:

“City leaders have suggested the ball is in CVAG’s court. Yet the only unified direction we have received from the City is to route CV Link around Indian Wells.

That is difficult to reconcile with repeated suggestions that the City is interested in advancing a connection between Palm Desert and La Quinta. A previous City Council sponsored Measure H, which voters approved to restrict CV Link in the city, and today the City is unwilling to consider even a 250-foot boundary adjustment at Washington Street that its own attorneys previously concluded would not violate Measure H.

From CVAG’s perspective, it is difficult to move the match forward when we don’t know which shots the City is willing to take. Before spending additional public dollars on studies, we need a clearer signal regarding which options are actually on the table.

CVAG is ready to serve. We just need to know whether the City’s goal is to connect Palm Desert and La Quinta, or simply to keep the ball in someone else’s court.”

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage on these latest developments.