Corona crows about new east-west route, sets party

Corona officials will throw a party Saturday to hail the completion of a new east-west route through the city.

The Foothill Parkway Westerly Extension added a two-mile stretch of road linking Foothill to Green River Road at Paseo Grande.

The extension, which runs along Mabey and Wardlow canyons, will officially open to traffic Dec. 5, but Corona Department of Public Works officials want to hold a ribbon-cutting and tout improvements prior to the artery going live.

“It’s an exciting day in Corona to see this project come to completion,” Public Works Director Nelson Nelson said. “We expect this extension to change traffic circulation for south Corona, as residents on the east and west sides of the city can more easily traverse across the city.”

“This will also bring relief to the residents along Ontario Avenue, whose neighborhood has served as the primary alternate east-west corridor for much longer than anticipated,” he said.

The celebration is set for 8 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Green River and Border Avenue, where there will be refreshments, kids’ entertainment and walking tours.

According to Nelson, along with hardtop, the extension featured the installation of 12,000 feet of waterlines, expansion of the Mabey Detention Basin, 1,000 feet of storm drain improvements, 9,000 feet of multi-purpose trails in the nearby canyons, a parking lot for trailhead access and two bridges over a Metropolitan Water District trunk line.

The $55.1 million endeavor had been in the works for almost 30 years by the time construction got underway in June 2014, officials said.

With the extension, motorists will have the option of exiting the 91 freeway at Green River and taking a direct route to Interstate 15 — or vice versa — with multiple stop lights along the way.

[symple_googlemap title=”Corona route” location=”Green River and Border Avenue, Corona, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]

— City News Service