Tuesday, Federal officials have okayed a $444 million government loan to help widen 91 Freeway, the Riverside Freeway that runs between Interstate 15 and the Orange County line, in Riverside county.
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced the Riverside County Transportation Commission is qualified to receive assistance from a loan program established by the Transportation Infrastructure Financing Innovation Act, the L.A. Time reported.
This is an enormous economic boost and will make it so much easier to travel to and from the entire region, Riverside County Supervisor John J. Benoit, the commission chairman, told the L.A. Times.
The widening of the freeway is one of the five projects selected to participate in the program, although the project will have to undergo a final review by the federal government before it is approved.
The project will widen 8 miles of one of the busiest highways in the state. The L.A. Times reports that more than 300,000 trips are made by motorists, on the 8-mile stretch, each day.
Officials expect the traffic to increase 50% by 2035.