Coming to Palm Desert: $72 Million Portola Interchange

IMAGE: An artist's rendering of the planned interchange via the Board of Supervisors' April 26, 2016 agenda.

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RIVERSIDE, CA- The Riverside County Department of Transportation will serve as the lead agency overseeing construction of a $72.1 million freeway interchange in Palm Desert under a contract approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

"This will be a major project managed by the county," said board Chairman John Benoit. "It's an honor when people recognize the good work we do."

The Interstate 10/Portola Avenue Interchange Project has been in the works since 2008 and entails constructing an overpass with freeway connectors at Varner Road and Dinah Shore Drive. Portola currently stops at Dinah Shore and does not reach I-10.

According transportation agency documents, the Monterey Avenue interchange to the west and the Cook Street interchange to the east are both overburdened, and traffic congestion is only going to worsen in the years ahead, requiring another freeway ingress and exit.

The I-10/Portola Avenue project design plan calls for realignment of Varner, which currently serves as a frontage road, as well as a grade separation between traffic and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks paralleling the freeway.

The Coachella Valley Association of Governments and the city of Palm Desert will cover all project expenses.

Groundbreaking on the project is not anticipated until 2020.

– By City News Service.