Measure I
Foothill Freeway - The First 20 Miles Now Open
The first 20 miles of the 28.2-mile Foothill Freeway are
complete and open to drivers. Six miles through Rancho Cucamonga and
Fontana opened in August 2001. Another 14 miles through La Verne, Claremont,
Upland and Rancho Cucamonga opened in November 2002.
The first groundbreaking ceremony for this portion of the freeway occurred in October 1997 at the historic Euclid Avenue bridge site in Upland, and construction in San Bernardino County started in early 1998. SANBAG served as the construction lead for the majority of the freeway in this county; Caltrans served as the lead for the section of the freeway in Claremont and La Verne in Los Angeles County.
The new freeway features eight lanes – three lanes plus a carpool lane in both directions. Fourteen on-ramps and off-ramps are available for drivers: Fruit, Towne, Baseline, Mountain, Campus, Carnelian, Archibald, Haven, Milliken, Day Creek, Cherry, Beech, Citrus and Sierra. The William E. Leonard Interchange with Interstate 15 is located between the Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana city limits. Nineteen other streets serve as freeway bridges to move local traffic over or under the freeway.
Most of the completed freeway is lower than the level of the area streets. This “depressed configuration” makes the freeway less visible and may help reduce noise. Sound walls were built along the freeway in locations determined by noise studies.
The San Bernardino County portion of the completed freeway cost approximately $486 million. This included environmental work, design, right-of-way acquisition, utilities and construction costs. See a project cost summary. Funding for the freeway was provided in part by Measure I, San Bernardino County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation. State and federal funds also were used to build Route 210.
Throughout the freeway construction process, SANBAG communicated with residents and other interested parties via its Project Update newsletter. SANBAG also maintained a monthly photographic log of project progress.