Last night, the Morongo Valley non-profit Rawson Road Improvement held their second official meeting in Covington Park’s Mesquite Room. The objective: to offer information to residents about moving forward with a special roads district to maintain hard to navigate roads with help from San Bernardino County Public Works Special Districts.
Organized by community members Sally Ellis, Susan Crandall, Brad Garrett, and Grace Hamilton, Rawson Road Improvement was joined by Assistant Regional Manager Rudy Guerrero and Deputy Director Byanka Velasco, both from San Bernardino County Public Works Special Districts. Glenn Harris, Field Rep for Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe—now covering the district of Morongo Valley—was also in attendance. Harris was there not only to represent Rowe, but to help announce their office’s donation to the road improvement project, in which a check for $2500 to cover half of the initial fee was handed over.
The hour and a half long meeting was packed past standing room with residents engaged and asking questions to understand the steps ahead. The boundaries were originally designated north of Hwy 62, between Big Morongo Canyon and Desert Willow and to the north at Panorama, Cheyenne, and Northridge. However, problems have arisen for Rawson Road and Navajo Trail since both those roads are technically paved, but in conditions barely passable. Guerrero confirmed that having the county tear up and remove that asphalt may be more cost prohibitive than residents might be prepared for, beyond the $150 a year margin most parcel owners have voiced as their preference. Guerrero says they are going to assess each road and report back by next meeting. For now, the project is funded with a possible surplus.
Most residents in favor of the project have agreed to focus on the main roads that connect them to Highway 62, as the Special Districts officials have advised leaving connecting roads such as Mecca alone to save them money, agreeing the “up and down” roads are more essential for long distance emergency calls and resident evacuation.
Now that there’s a solid core of residents interested in the project, the next step will be for Public Works Special Districts to do a mail survey, followed by a vote, to assure all residents’ voices are being heard. Rawson Road Improvement affirmed their website crappyroads92256.com will be updated with more frequency to continue transparency of this complicated but positive project.
