More than $200 million has been awarded for a variety of transportation infrastructure projects throughout Riverside County, Caltrans announced Friday.
Under the latest round of funding under Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017, eight projects were designated amounts ranging from just under $500,000 to just over $200 million, according to Caltrans.
The largest allocation was $200.4 million for a truck climbing lane along Interstate 10 in Coachella.
No other distribution came close to that amount, but almost all were for upgrades on freeways and highways.
The Interstate 10 State Roadside Rest Areas Project received $1.3 million for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations near Banning and Blythe, while $1.13 million was disbursed for a safety project along state Route 79 north of San Jacinto that will entail constructing a concrete median barrier and in-ground rumble strips, Caltrans said.
The one project that wasn’t tied to freeway or highway access is connected to planned sidewalk and other improvements around Herbert Hoover Elementary School in Indio. That project received $2.6 million, according to Caltrans.
“California has the most heavily-traveled transportation system in the country,” agency Director Toks Omishakin said.
“Today’s investment will allow Caltrans to make critical repairs and upgrades to our state’s roads and bridges (and) increase options for transit, rail, walking and biking.”