Community Workshop

Background

Reche Canyon Road has become an increasingly popular shortcut between Colton and Moreno Valley. In fact, commuters from Riverside County account for the majority of cars—up to 85%—traveling on Reche Canyon Road at peak travel times of the day. Commuters from the south use it as a cut-through to avoid Interstate 215 and Route 60, and a 2015 road straightening project on Reche Vista in Riverside County has made it even more attractive to commuters, leading to considerable traffic congestion, particularly at peak hours.

Since the road is split between San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, it can be difficult to address public concerns over safety and traffic congestion issues. With community participation and support, however, positive changes are possible.

That’s why Arizona State University and University Realty are currently studying Reche Canyon Road and working to identify feasible solutions to improve conditions. 

The workshops

At the August 25^th Workshop, community members received handouts and a comment booklet, which provided the option of submitting written comments to the project team. Following an introduction and question and answer session, Workshop participants were broken in to three groups. Each group was provided with a large map segment of Reche Canyon Road:

• Intersection of Reche Canyon Rd/Washington Street south to Prado Lane
• Prado Lane to Scotch Lane
• Scotch Lane to Reche Vista

Once at the station, each group collaborated to identify issues and then worked with moderators to identify possible solutions to those issues. Interactive transparency overlays allowed participants to move around symbols for street signage, lights, pedestrian crossing, roundabouts, and other street features.

Feedback

Opening questions

Residents asked a number of questions about University Realty’s plans for developing acreage east of Prado and Crystal Ridge. UR promised to provide more information as it became available but stressed that understanding the problems with Reche Canyon Road was an important part of developing a final plan.

UR also committed to providing more information and opportunities for participation, continued transparency, and expanded community input as the project takes shape.

Reche Canyon Road Issues

Participants shared their perspectives about the defining elements of Reche Canyon Road. Some participants interacted one-on-one with project team members, who recorded participants’ ideas on the map exhibits. Some participants submitted input via the comment booklet and others have participated via a survey on the RecheCanyon411.com website.

Next Steps

Residents, professional staff, and civic leaders have all identified issues with congestion, pedestrian safety, speed enforcement, and emergency responsiveness along Reche Canyon Road. A residential project under consideration by University Realty for submission to the City of Colton would require certain mitigation of its impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act and review and study of such impacts also provides the Reche Canyon community with an opportunity to identify feasible traffic improvements.

The next step is the commissioning of a traffic study to assess the traffic conditions and determine those feasible improvements. The traffic study together with the feedback from the Community Workshop will be considered in identifying solutions to these challenging issues.

We continue to welcome your ideas and comments.