Interstate 215 Bi-County Widening:
San Bernardino, Colton, Grand Terrace, Riverside
SANBAG is working with the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to complete preliminary engineering and environmental analysis for the widening of Interstate 215. This 7.1-mile project extends from the Orange Show Road interchange in San Bernardino to the 60/91/215 interchange in Riverside. The project will include the addition of a mixed flow lane and a carpool lane, in both the northbound and southbound directions. See the Fact Sheet for this project.
I-215 Widening project partners include SANBAG, RCTC, Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration, the County of San Bernardino, the County of Riverside, and the Cities of San Bernardino, Riverside, Colton and Grand Terrace.
SANBAG has allocated $7.5 million for preliminary engineering and $4 million for environmental work. RCTC is contributing 25 percent of the total cost toward this phase of work, which began in December 2003.
Project development work began in 2007 on two interchange projects within this I-215 corridor – Mt. Vernon/Washington Street in Colton and Barton Road in Grand Terrace. SANBAG will work to rebuild Mt. Vernon/Washington and Barton interchanges before construction begins to widen the freeway, in an effort to provide earlier relief to these busy areas.
Funding for the full project has not been finalized, but the total cost through construction is estimated to be $1.2 billion. When combined with costs for the Mt. Vernon/Washington and Barton interchanges, the project cost is approximately $1.4 billion.
Funding will be provided in part by Measure I, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements in San Bernardino County, and Measure A, the half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements in Riverside County. The agencies also will pursue state and federal funding sources.
An aggressive schedule has been set to complete the widening project. The following schedule assumes no unforeseen delays:
- Preliminary engineering and environmental clearance is expected to be completed by late 2012 or early 2013.
- Final design and right-of-way acquisition are estimated to begin in early 2013 and last through mid-2016.
- Construction may start as early as 2016 and last until approximately 2020.
Also of Interest...
- I-215 Fact Sheet (402K Acrobat pdf updated 3/05)