Transportation Projects Still Planned
San Bernardino Associated Governments, known as SANBAG, is the council of governments and transportation planning agency for San Bernardino County. SANBAG is responsible for ooperative regional planning and furthering an efficient multi-modal transportation system countywide. SANBAG serves the 2.1 million residents of San Bernardino County.
As the County Transportation Commission, SANBAG supports freeway construction projects, regional and local road improvements, train and bus transportation, railroad crossings, call boxes, ridesharing, congestion management efforts, and long-term planning studies. SANBAG administers Measure I, the half-cent transportation sales tax originally approved by county voters in 1989 and reapproved to extend from 2010-2040.
SANBAG looks at the transportation needs of the entire county and then breaks off into specialized committees, such as the Mountain Desert Region Committee. This is comprised of board members from the high desert region who have added interest and knowledge about projects in their area.
There are many transportation planning efforts in progress that will benefit the residents of the High Desert. Following is a summary of some of the long-term projects being planned now and for the future.
I-15/I215 Interchange in Devore
The junction of Interstates 15 and 215, known as the Devore Interchange, is considered a major bottleneck as freight, commuter, recreational, and other vehicles travel through the Cajon Pass. This project will reconfigure the interchange to provide four lanes in each direction on the I-15 corridor, and possibly add truck bypass lanes to help improve traffic flow. It is anticipated that construction will start in late 2013. Public outreach meetings have been held in Devore. Preliminary project cost estimates are in the $350 million range.
High Desert Corridor – Phase One
This project is a new 21 mile highway, realigning State Route 18 (SR -18) from the east side of Apple Valley to the existing US Highway-395 south of Air Expressway. The City of Victorville is the lead agency. It is currently in the Project Approval and Environmental Document phase, which is expected to be completed in mid-2012. The total cost to build the highway is $550
million. The construction date has not been set.
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