The Pass Not Included in $271M California Transportation Commission Awards

The California Transportation Commission on Thursday allocated $271 million in new funding to 73 projects, but none of the projects are in or near the San Gorgonio Pass.

Caltrans announced the funding Friday and said the projects "will improve the state's highways and rail systems and enhance the state’s economic recovery."

A 16-page list of the 73 projects includes no mention of the San Gorgonio Pass or the roads that make travel through it possible: Interstate 10, State Route 60, and Highway 111.

Press releases from Caltrans District 8 about the new funding do not mention of the that stretched from Banning to Palm Springs, or that have been discussed in recent years.

The Riverside County Transportation Commission would be the lead agency on any parallel bypass route in the Banning-Cabazon area, Shelli Lombardo of Caltrans District 8 said.

"We are focused on reducing traffic congestion, increasing safety, and improving goods movement to boost California's economy," Acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty said in a prepared statement announcing the new funding.

The awarded funding announced by Caltrans includes $214 million from Proposition 1B, a transportation bond approved by voters in 2006.

In total, more than $11 billion in Proposition 1B funds have been distributed statewide, according to Caltrans.

The remaining $57 million in allocations came from assorted transportation accounts funded by state and federal dollars.

In Caltrans District 8, which covers Riverside and San Bernardino counties, three projects received a portion of the California Transportation Commission funding:

- In Perris, $1.2 million will be spent on traffic signal and sidewalk improvements on State Route 74, and $563,000 will be spent on traffic signlas at SR74's junction with northbound Interstate 215 on and off ramps.

- A portion of State Route 178, near Ridgecrest, received $572,000 dollars to improve drainage along a nine-mile segment of the route.

Ridgecrest is in northeast Kern County near China Lake, and the section of SR 178 listed by Caltrans District 8 is in northwest San Bernardino County, about 150 miles northwest of the San Gorgonio Pass.

The California Transportation Commission meets monthly, Lombardo said.