Traffic Relief For Lake Elsinore? Here's Your Chance To Weigh In

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Residents have an opportunity to help chart a course for Riverside County’s transportation future by providing feedback on a draft Traffic Relief Plan adopted Wednesday by the Riverside County Transportation Commission.

RCTC is urging residents to visit TrafficReliefPlan.org to view the plan and take a short survey to voice their comments. Feedback will be collected through June 10. The survey is available in English and Spanish; other languages are available upon request.

The draft Traffic Relief Plan includes projects and services for better roads, faster highways, easier highway access, more trains, frequent bus service, help with commutes, longer trails, new technology, and in the Coachella Valley, flood and dust control. Many of the items in the plan are the result of RCTC’s 2019 public engagement effort, #RebootMyCommute, which drew thousands of suggestions from residents for improving travel in Riverside County and the region, according to the agency.

“RCTC asked residents last year to tell us about their transportation challenges. We listened,” said RCTC Chair and Wildomar City Councilmember Ben Benoit. “The draft Traffic Relief Plan is a long-term strategy to improve traffic flow, safety, and economic opportunity in Riverside County. Please add your voice to shape our future."

In addition to relieving traffic, the plan is designed to promote economic investment in the fast-growing — but often slow-moving — 7,300 square-mile county. Incentives are provided for local governments to develop infrastructure that will secure new permanent living-wage jobs in Riverside County and cut commute times, the RCTC said.

“Too often, our residents are traveling to other counties for employment. Through incentives and a stronger transportation network, we can bring more jobs closer to home for Riverside County residents,” Benoit said.

Locally-driven strategies are included in the plan to address diverse transportation needs in the Coachella Valley, the Palo Verde Valley (Blythe area) and western Riverside County. In the Coachella Valley, for example, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments would use its Transportation Project Priority Study to guide investments in roads, bridges, traffic signal synchronization, passenger rail, and upgrades to reduce road closures from flooding and wind-blown sand.

In June, RCTC commissioners representing every city and the entire Board of Supervisors will analyze the feedback and other data to decide whether to place a half-cent per dollar sales tax measure on the November 2020 ballot for voter consideration to fund the Traffic Relief Plan.

If approved by a two-thirds majority, the measure could raise close to $200 million per year (in 2020 dollars) countywide.

The plan represents neither a final product nor a vote for a sales tax measure. Rather, it offers a comprehensive set of strategic projects and services that could be delivered if voters approve a transportation funding measure, according to the RCTC. Should the commission decide to not place the sales tax measure on the ballot, the plan can be used to set long-term priorities, but the investments likely would not be delivered in the near-term or mid- term, due to lack of funds, the agency said.

Visit TrafficReliefPlan.org for more information and to provide feedback.