Eager CL drivers thrilled at new I-15 access

Patient Canyon Lake drivers are celebrating the opening of onramps at the Interstate 15 interchange as the two-year project there is wrapping up.

The Riverside County Transportation Commission, the City of Lake Elsinore, and Caltrans celebrated the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week. There are still some minor parts of the project to wrap up, but the lion’s share is finished…well ahead of schedule.

With what a recent Canyon Lake transportation study confirmed, a healthy percentage of Canyon Lake drivers, when they leave the city, head toward Lake Elsinore and access Interstate 15. The last two years have been sluggish at the Railroad Canyon Road interchange as substantial construction has taken place in an attempt to unclog what has been a nightmare for years.

The $41-million project improves safety and capacity by adding lanes, modifying ramps, and building sidewalks and bike lanes along Railroad Canyon Road. These improvements will help drivers more quickly and more safely move through the area. By repositioning the onramps, an intersection of traffic signals was eliminated. Now, a median divides both sides of Railroad Canyon Road through the interchange and under the overpass.

The opening of the ramps, including the widening of the offramps, was not set to be completed until late this year.

Officials celebrated the rare early completion of such a project with a ribboncutting ceremony last week. Officials from the sponsoring agencies participated in the event.

There are still some smaller mop-up parts of the project to be completed, but it is anticipated that there will be little additional disruption to the flow of traffic through the area.