The Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday will consider final approval of a resolution authorizing eminent domain proceedings for properties abutting Airport Boulevard in Thermal, in order to facilitate a bridge improvement project.
The Transportation & Land Management Agency is overseeing the Airport Boulevard Bridge Replacement Project and requires 10 temporary and permanent easements connected to the enterprise, which will be among the public hearings scheduled on the board’s policy agenda Tuesday.
The board previously signed off on initiation of the project, but hasn’t yet given the green light on further negotiations for the right-of-way easements, three of which were listed as permanent, requiring acquisitions via the government’s eminent domain authority, and seven temporary easements, spanning the estimated 42-month duration of the project.
The TLMA stated in documents posted to the board’s agenda that monetary offers had been extended to the property owners, who include the Coachella Valley Water District, and the amounts were “consistent with local current property values … based on fair market value appraisals.”
Specific figures weren’t disclosed. No residential or commercial displacements are associated with the project.
According to officials, the current two-lane Airport Boulevard span, which intersects Orange Street to the west and Desert Cactus Drive to the east, requires upgrades for long-term maintenance. Reconstruction will entail raising the bridge where it crosses the Whitewater River by two to three feet, as well as repaving surfaces, expanding sidewalks and fortifying retaining walls.
The city of Coachella is partnering with the county on the project and will be committing funds, documents stated.
As of now, $81,500 has been allocated by the county for eminent domain proceedings, but most of that has originated from the state Highway Bridge Project Fund. No county General Fund appropriations will be required, officials said.
There was no word on when the project — the total cost of which hasn’t been confirmed — might get underway once the easements have been secured, provided there’s no litigation.