State Plan Would Add 4 Lanes to Pomona Freeway

The state has proposed spending nearly $10 million this year to add four lanes to the Pomona (60) Freeway between Valley Way in Riverside County and the San Bernardino County line, one of only a handful of transportation projects in California to be recommended for funding.

The California Department of Transportation recommended that the project, which would add one carpool lane and one regular lane in each direction of the seven-mile stretch of freeway, receive the state dollars.

It is one of 20 projects that would be funded in the upcoming fiscal year from a $50-million pool for interregional projects. The proposal must still go before the California Transportation Commission.

Surrounding stretches of the freeway in both directions already have more lanes, so the proposed project would allow traffic to flow more freely and remove a bottleneck, officials say.

“This is a major gap closure of a system that will flow from Moreno Valley to Diamond Bar,” said Riverside County Transportation Commission Executive Director Eric Haley. “It’s a major gateway to Ontario Airport and to the Riverside, Moreno Valley and desert area. It would become a major congestion point if it’s not addressed.”

The total project cost is $38 million, with the remaining $28 million coming from federal and local sources.

The proposal will probably go before the state commission in August.

If approved, construction will begin by the end of the year and be completed in 2007.