Motorists speeding through the Route 60 Truck Lanes construction zone in Riverside County between Beaumont and Moreno Valley may be seeing flashing red and blue lights in their rearview mirrors due to newly enhanced California Highway Patrol enforcement in this area. Ernest Figueroa has more information…
The CHP San Gorgonio Pass Office has dedicated additional resources for speed enforcement to enhance the safety of construction workers and motorists in the Badlands area of Highway 60, between Beaumont and Moreno Valley. In the first two weeks alone since the start of the enhanced enforcement, officers have issued 177 citations and two verbal warnings to motorists putting the pedal to the metal.
Crews are continuing construction of the Route 60 Truck Lanes with a focus on work in the roadway median. The project, which will add an eastbound truck climbing lane, a westbound truck descending lane, wider shoulders and medians, and wildlife crossings, is expected to open in 2022. The speed limit in the construction zones is 55 miles per hour.
“The San Gorgonio Pass California Highway Patrol consistently strives to maintain motorist safety and reduce injuries and deaths that occur within our jurisdiction,” said Captain Mike Alvarez, Commander of the San Gorgonio Pass Area CHP office. “The Route 60 Truck Lanes Project will greatly improve our transportation infrastructure, and we are committed to maintaining the safety of our community throughout the duration of the project,” Alvarez said. “As always, we are proud to partner with the Riverside County Transportation Commission to accomplish this goal through strategic collaboration and enhanced enforcement and education.”
The CHP and the Riverside County Transportation Commission, the lead agency for construction of the Route 60 Truck Lanes, began seeing an uptick in speeding and collisions after vehicles were shifted to the newly paved westbound lanes on August 9. In the few weeks following the transition, 13 collisions occurred in the project area – 11 in the westbound lanes and two in the eastbound lanes – primarily due to excessive speed. Of these collisions, two vehicles rolled over the median barrier where crews were working.
Although the collisions resulted in only three minor injuries, RCTC and the CHP recognized the growing problem and met to discuss ways to improve safety using the CHP’s Triple-E approach – engineering, education, and enforcement.
RCTC flattened the outer shoulder slope and added two feet of asphalt paving to the shoulder for motorists who may drift off the road and created cutout areas for CHP units to safety pull over motorists. The CHP also will be adding speed detection signs to educate motorists of their rates of speed. The speed limit in the construction zone is 55 mph.
“This is a safety project, and it is essential that drivers slow down,” said RCTC Chair and Wildomar City Council Member Ben J. Benoit. “Speeding drivers and rollover incidents are placing our crews at risk and causing danger on the road,” he said. “Don’t risk your lives and the lives of others just to save a few minutes of time.”
