At last night’s meeting of the Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council in Joshua Tree, representatives from Caltrans floated the idea of instituting a pilot program aimed at more safely moving vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists through the Joshua Tree downtown business district. Reporter Mike Lipsitz was there…
Last night’s agenda noted Caltrans would present on a State Route 62 project. Brief as it was, the natural conclusion was that the state transportation agency would go over construction of the two-way left turn lane and shoulder widening set to begin middle of next month. And while they touched on the widening project, the focus last night was a on proposal to actually narrow the highway as is passes through the Joshua Tree business district. To its credit, Caltrans fast-tracked the proposal in response to public outrage over another recent pedestrian fatality. Caltrans’ District Chief of Operations, Haissam Yahya, described a plan that would include calming traffic by restriping to narrow the lanes, reconfiguring parking from parallel to diagonal, carving out five to six feet for a dedicated bike lane, and using cross hatching to discourage traffic where safety is a concern. Baring community opposition, Yahya said the plan could be put into place fairly quickly and economically.
When the MAC meets again on March 13, Caltrans said they would attend with the hope of getting a feel for the level of community support for the project.
CALTRANS LAYS OUT ITS PLAN FOR DOWNTOWN JOSHUA TREE TRAFFIC
