Update: $9.9 Million Approved For Transportation Projects in Inland Empire, Coachella Valley
Yucca Valley, CA – The people of the Morongo Basin will soon have an opportunity to help their community become a better and safer place for pedestrians and cyclists and to provide other forms of alternative transportation.
The County received a $200,000 grant from the Southern California Association of Governments, better known as SCAG, to develop a citizen-driven Morongo Basin Active Transportation Plan to analyze the transit, bicycle, and pedestrian needs of the communities to identify basin-wide infrastructure, policy, and programming actions that will create a safe and efficient environment for these forms of transportation.
“The goal is to have a complete network of sidewalks, bike lanes, and intersection crossing treatments around the Morongo Basin communities that will allow residents and visitors to safely and efficiently get to school, work, shopping centers, and recreation sites without having to get into a motor vehicle,” said County Supervisor James Ramos, whose Third District includes the Morongo Basin.
“Transportation projects that improve infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians will also help improve air and water quality, revitalize the economy, improve public health, and enhance recreational opportunities,” Ramos said.
The project is funded through SCAG’s Sustainability Planning Grant Program. Representatives from the County, Caltrans, the Town of Yucca Valley, the City of Twentynine Palms, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), Copper Mountain College, the Morongo Unified School District, the National Park Services, bicycling advocacy groups, and other key stakeholders are members of a technical advisory committee formed to guide the development of the plan. The committee will continue to actively meet to discuss how to further proceed with producing the plan, including ideas for how to best ensure that the people of the Morongo Basin have the opportunity to provide input for the plan’s development.
There are two upcoming opportunities for the people of the Morongo Basin to help shape this plan. Members of the technical advisory committee and plan consultants will be available to discuss the project with community members and listen to their ideas on Sept. 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Arts Connection Annual Conference at the Bell Center at Copper Mountain College and on Oct. 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Health & Community Resource Fair at Luckie Park in the City of Twentynine Palms.
The community will be able to use the final plan to help support grant requests for alternative transportation projects.
The KOA Corporation, a transportation planning and engineering firm and its outreach sub-consultants Lesley Elwood & Associates and Leslie Scott and Associates have been retained by the county and SCAG to produce the Morongo Active Transportation Plan.
For further information or any questions please call Stephen Martinez, at (909) 387-8169.
