Beaumont Breaks Ground On Potrero Interchange

BEAUMONT, CA — More than a dozen years after federal funding kicked off the Potrero Boulevard Interchange Project, Pass Area leaders broke ground on Thursday. Dozens of people were on hand to watch the ceremonial start to construction on a $34 million interchange project intended to ease traffic flow in and out of the city via the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway.

The first phase of the Potrero Boulevard Interchange Project is expected to be completed about a year from now and will involve constructing a six-lane bridge over the 60, between Jack Rabbit Trail and the Interstate 10/60 Freeway junction in Beaumont.

Mayor Nancy Carroll stressed that the project will improve safety in the region, to stop motorists from darting straight across the 60.

"Over the last five years...we have had 16 accidents, 10 injuries and two fatalities at this intersection here [at Western Knolls] of State Route 60," Carroll told Patch at the project site. "So it's critical we no longer put the traffic and people at risk that pass through the area."

Portrero Boulevard currently functions mainly as a frontage road along the 60, though it has standard entrance and exit points on the freeway where it meets Western Knolls Avenue.

The new overcrossing will feature a partial cloverleaf design and enable motorists to smoothly and directly transition on and off the 60 using Portrero, which ends at the freeway and stretches north to Oak Valley Parkway, where there are multiple subdivisions.

According to city officials, additional phases of the project are planned that include construction of an extension of Western Knolls from the westbound side of the 60 to Portrero, further reducing traffic congestion near the 10/60 junction.

Carroll said the project will also help enable growth across several sectors here in Beaumont.

"[I]f we plan it well, if we do commerce, industrial and then residential — and very thoughtfully in each one of those categories — we should be able to make the area better and get the urban village that the residents have said that they wanted for us."

More funding must come available before the additional phases can be initiated.

Carroll said jobs will likely come thanks to the project, too.

"I will say that when the construction, when the commerce, when the residential is done-- there will be a job engine that ends up to be created from that," she added. "I say that because when you have residential, you actually employ so many people that are building swimming pools, taking care of air conditioning, repairing roofs, putting in new cabinets, countertops... So it becomes an engine for small business in the area, and that's good. We're looking forward to that."

According to the city, closures on the 60 will be necessary as the project progresses, and traffic advisories will be issued in advance to permit motorists to use detours.

Corona-based Falcon Engineering Services Inc. is overseeing the work.

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The project, which has not come without a bit of controversy, has sparked several posts and comments here on Patch by community activists and residents.

SEE:

• BULLETIN BOARD BLOG: 'Beaumont Running Potrero Interchange Scam for Third Time'
• LETTER TO EDITOR: As Beaumont Undertakes 'Significant' Projects, Countering 'Misinformation'

— City News Service contributed to this report / Images by Renee Schiavone