Work to Close Rialto Bridge (San Bernardino Sun Jan. 20, 2008) Road Widening Will Jam Traffic!!

BS Ranch Perspective

Later this year, anyone that drives, or tries to drive, across the I-10 Riverside Bridge after they start the expansion Construction, Should have their head Examined!!

Seriously, the crazy days are coming that the bridge across the Interstate 10 Freeway, @ Riverside Ave, one of the Busiest Freeway Bridges that Crosses the I-10. I mean since Riverside Ave is a Short cut to the I-60 from there and Now it is a Shortcut from there to the I-210, so then it will be terribly congested and just an awful way to go when the construction starts. If it is like the Rest of the bridges then it will take at least 11 to 15 months for the Concrete to dry and it will just be terrible, and just awfully congested and miserable.

But having said that, the Congestion around Sierra Ave had gone down and was a whole lot better when the bridge was finished!! Now, I hope that the Engineers that put the whole plan together for the expansion have a better Idea for Riverside then they did for the Traffic that is W/B on the I-10 intending to turn Right N/B on Riverside. You know the ones that have the idea to make an Immediate Right on Riverside and then an Immediate Left on Valley so that they can go down to Willow, Lilac, or Cactus, or even all the way into Bloomington and make a N/B turn onto Maple since it would be better if they used Cedar Ave. Yet they have the time to sit in the middle of traffic and wait until all of Riverside Ave to clear so that they can make it over to the Center of N/B Riverside and turn Left on Valley Ave.

People have got to learn how to get to their house other then the one way that they learned when they purchased their home!!

BS Ranch

Work to close Rialto bridge

Road widening will jam traffic

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 01/20/2008 09:50:40 PM PST

RIALTO - More vehicles are about to squeeze onto already packed north-south roads crossing the 10 Freeway.

Later this year, workers will close Riverside Avenue over the 10 to widen the road and the on- and off-ramps. Drivers will still be able to get on the freeway from Riverside Avenue from each direction.

Once the road reopens, it might not stay open long. In the next five years, officials expect to widen the Riverside Avenue bridge over the Union Pacific rail lines just south of the freeway bridge.

"It's really a bad situation," said Councilman Ed Scott, who said the city couldn't get the money to widen both bridges at once.

Although the freeway bridge will be widened from four to six lanes, it will merge back into four lanes to cross the railroad tracks until that bridge is widened as well, said Rialto's public-works director, Ahmad Ansari.

Ansari came to the city after plans for Riverside Avenue had been set.

"To say that it is not going to be a bottleneck, I would be lying to you," he said.

Nevertheless, congestion on Riverside Avenue should be eased after the initial $37 million bridge project because the on- and off- ramps, which generate much of the traffic, will be wider, Ansari said.

He said he hopes work can start on the second bridge within five years. It's not clear whether that work will require a full closure of Riverside Avenue.

Larry Mitchell, general manager of Hometown Buffet

just north of the 10, wasn't happy when he heard another bridge needs work on Riverside.

But he said his business will survive if the work is spread out enough.

"I think our patrons, our guests, will find a way if they want to come to Hometown Buffet," he said.

Greg Lantz, Rialto's economic development manager, said the bridge over the railroad could be widened as part of a project to widen Riverside Avenue to three lanes in each direction. A planned north-south route between Riverside and San Bernardino counties could dump out around Riverside Avenue, making the longer widening necessary.

The good news is that Riverside Avenue on- and off-ramps will get traffic signals as part of this year's project, Ansari said.

Councilwoman Winnie Hanson said that as a rule, work to improve the city's infrastructure won't be easy.

"I think our infrastructure is just way, way, way beyond quick solutions," she said.