As Inland Empire Grows, Freeway Commute Slows

Ken Shaw fled the headaches of city life in Cypress more than 30 years ago, packing up the family and moving to a spacious new home in a quieter, safer and less expensive neighborhood in the Inland Empire.

Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of others had the same idea.

Now, Shaw often finds himself in a bumper-to-bumper conga line on the Riverside Freeway during his morning commute--the very exhaust-filled purgatory he tried so hard to escape.

“If I have to leave at 8 a.m., it’s a killer. It takes me two hours,” said Shaw, a computer programmer who lives in Riverside and works in Santa Ana.

Dramatic population increases in Riverside and San Bernardino counties are expected to mean that the Inland Empire’s traffic headaches will only grow worse--despite millions of dollars being spent on freeway construction, carpool lanes, mass transit and other transportation programs.

The amount of time drivers in the two counties spent caught in traffic increased 190% over the last five years, a rate far outpacing those in other Southland counties, according to a study by the California Department of Transportation. Motorists in Los Angeles and Ventura counties endured 30% more congestion, while the hours of congestion increased just 11% in Orange County, the study showed.

In 2000, 62% of the Inland Empire’s freeways were clogged during peak drive times--168 miles of traffic out of 270 miles of freeway. Although the two counties have yet to match the overall traffic woes of Los Angeles and Orange counties, they are closing the gap.

The population in Riverside and San Bernardino counties jumped by 660,000 residents from 1990 to 2000--a 25% increase--and is expected to grow 74% more by 2025, according to census figures and regional government planners. The two counties were home to 14 of the region’s 20 fastest-growing cities or unincorporated areas during the 10-year period.

“The Inland Empire is a growing region, and the growth in population is going to be huge,” said Hasan Ikhrata, a transportation planner for the Southern California Assn. of Governments. “Unfortunately, the growth in the jobs is going to be in Orange County and Los Angeles. So we’ll see more commuters, not less.”

Right now, 15% of commuters in San Bernardino and 25% in Riverside counties spend an average of 1 1/2 hours getting to work, he said. By 2025, those numbers are expected to increase to 25% in San Bernardino County and 40% in Riverside County.

Studies predict that in 25 years, the average speeds on the Inland Empire portions of the Riverside Freeway will drop into the single digits during peak commuting times and to 15 mph on the San Bernardino and Pomona freeways, Ikhrata said.

“When I first moved out here, there were nothing but cows. Now look at the place: They’re building everywhere,” said Izella Johnson of Fontana, a security company dispatcher who works in Los Angeles and Corona. “Now, when I drive to L.A. on the 60, forget about it. It takes me two hours at least.”

Ed Marcum, an executive for an Irvine semiconductor company, said his simple, 26-mile commute from Corona takes more than an hour if he leaves the house at 8 a.m., thanks mostly to the traffic on the Riverside Freeway, the only major link between the Inland Empire and Orange County. Plus, he spends $140 a month on tolls to use the 91 Express Lanes.

“I have no choice. It’s the only way I’ll get to work on time,” said Marcum, who recently moved to Southern California from Dallas. “To have to pay to use a public highway, to me it’s just bad business. It’s a bad reflection on the leadership of this state.”

The 10-mile tollway, which has two lanes in each direction, runs down the median of the Riverside Freeway from north Anaheim to the Orange County-Riverside County border. It opened in 1995 and has been controversial ever since.

Corona and Riverside County have filed lawsuits challenging the agreement between the state and tollway owners that allowed the lanes to be built. The contract gives the owners the power to veto major improvements to the Riverside Freeway if the roadwork would take customers from the pay lanes.

Riverside County transportation officials argue that the tollway has made traffic even worse on the Riverside Freeway because the agreement makes it nearly impossible for the state to widen the freeway or do anything else that could relieve congestion.

To help alleviate tie-ups, many Riverside County officials support building a new transportation corridor--a highway or perhaps a tunnel--through the Cleveland National Forest in south Orange County. But the idea faces opposition from environmental groups.

Caltrans officials say the governor’s $5.3-billion traffic-congestion relief program and a series of freeway projects already underway should alleviate some problem spots.

“Pretty much the whole district will be under construction for the next five years,” said Holly Kress, a spokeswoman for Caltrans’ District 8, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Among the actions being taken:

* The 28-mile extension of the Foothill Freeway from La Verne to San Bernardino, creating another major east-west corridor from the Inland Empire to Los Angeles County. The final six-mile stretch is expected to be completed by 2006.

* A $70-million expenditure by the California Transportation Commission to add carpool lanes on Interstate 215 through San Bernardino and the Riverside and Pomona freeways in Riverside.

* A $262-million project to improve the interchange of the Riverside and Pomona freeways. Scheduled to begin in 2003, the work will widen both freeways and include a truck bypass and a pair of new connector ramps. Carpool lanes also will be added to I-215, which is the northern extension of the Riverside Freeway. Completion is scheduled by 2006.

San Bernardino County Supervisor John Mikel said all the work may not be enough. The only true solution will be to locate more businesses closer to the Inland Empire’s housing, something companies so far have been loath to do in large numbers, he said.

“I don’t believe we can build our way out of this,” said Mikel, who is also president of the Southern California Assn. of Governments. “People in the Inland Empire will be no different than people in Orange County and L.A. County.”

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