Local and state officials, along with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Deputy Administrator David Kim recent attended a ribbon cutting ceremony to official open the $325 million Devore Interchange in San Bernardino, California.
Officials hope the project will relieve congestion and improve safety for the 160,000 vehicles that travel the junction of Interstate 15 and I-215 daily. FHWA contributed $200 million toward the project.
“Projects like this one illustrate the nation’s ongoing need to upgrade our infrastructure and prepare for increased freight movement if we are to support continued economic growth,” Kim says. “Bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions undermine the productivity of businesses and the quality of life for the entire region.”
The project reconfigured adjacent interchanges and the I-15/I-215 interchange to encompass an additional lane in each direction, boosting lanes miles to 5.3 miles in the project area.
The interchange is considered a “critical trade route” in the area, with 21,000 commercial vehicles passing each day, with many coming from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The California Department of Transportation estimates the total number of vehicles to more than double by 2040, to 379,000 vehicles per day.
“The tremendous growth in Southern California and the Inland Empire has made it paramount to improve the interchange and provide congestion relief to both commuters and truckers,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “We need more of these types of projects nationwide that fix traffic bottlenecks while underscoring the need for sustained and robust federal funding.”