Caltrans and Riverside County Project Would Expand the 15 Freeway

Caltrans and the Riverside County Transportation Commission are planning to expand the capacity of 15 Freeway from Corona through the city of Lake Elsinore. The I-15 Express Lanes Project Southern Extension (ELPSE) would add four to five new lanes to the existing six-lane freeway. Added capacity would include over 60 miles of new toll lanes – two lanes in each direction – plus one additional un-tolled southbound lane through three miles of Lake Elsinore.

The project is located near the western edge of Riverside County, next to Orange County, and about fifty miles east of central Los Angeles.

The project design and impacts are detailed in a 2024 draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), not yet approved.

The 15 Freeway is currently six lanes – three general purpose lanes in each direction in that area. The project would add 60+ new freeway lane-miles, expanding the facility to ten lanes: two toll lanes and three general purpose lanes in each direction. In Lake Elsinore – from Nichols Road to Main Street – the ELPSE project would add an additional southbound auxiliary lane – bringing the total to eleven lanes just south of Nichols.

Added lanes would be located in the existing 70-foot wide freeway median, so the project does not include any property acquisitions. The $550-650 million project includes widening 15 bridges, and adding express lane on- and off-ramps, sound walls, toll collection equipment, signage, and more.

The ELPSE project includes de minimis multimodal components. There are no planned walk, ADA, or bicycle project components. To mitigate increased driving, the project includes two very small transit programs. One would provide two years of free Metrolink commuter rail passes. A second would “improve and potentially expand” Riverside Transportation Agency bus service operating along I-15 between Temecula and Corona. Per the ELPSE EIR, “At a minimum, RTA buses would be permitted to utilize the Express Lanes at no cost.” RTA Line 206 currently makes five daily bus trips daily on this part of the 15.

Some California transportation agencies dedicate some toll revenue to multimodal transportation. RCTC’s current practice allocates toll revenues to Express Lane operations and maintenance.

The project EIR makes a lot of tired and disproven claims. It leans heavily on discredited car-centric Level of Service calculations to justify the project. The EIR acknowledges that expanding the freeway would “generate new vehicular traffic trips and increased traffic volumes” but then repeats the lie that more freeway trips would mean reduced surface street traffic, declaring, “the Project would increase throughput on the mainline and encourage cars from local streets to use the freeway, benefiting all users, including EJ [Environmental Justice] communities.”

Caltrans and RCTC are seeking to fund ELPSE construction via competitive SB 1 (gas tax) funding awarded by the California Transportation Commission. The grant funding is expected to be decided at the June 26-27 CTC meeting.

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