Southern California's next freeway could be the 71 in Pomona, according to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Following the recent opening of a new interchange at Mission Boulevard and the 71 Freeway, Pomona is seeking a $25 million federal grant that would help pay for "the design and widening of two bridges between I-10 and Mission that carry 71 traffic over railroad tracks." The total cost for the project, which would widen the Spadra Bridge and the West Pomona Bridge, is estimated at $33 million. Pomona will find out if they have secured the initial batch of funding in spring of this year. Pomona is also seeking grants to conduct traffic circulation studies, which, with the bridge widening projects, are the precursors to the 71's seemingly inevitable upgrade to freeway status--an anonymous Caltrans officials make the bold prediction that "the four-lane 71 between the 10 and 60 freeways will become a six-lane freeway with a carpool lane by 2023." A good chunk of the 71 has already become a highway via San Bernardino's Measure I funds (for transportation improvements), but Pomona in in LA County, which means it has to compete with more central projects for county transportation funding.
· Pomona moving forward toward improving the 71 into a full freeway [Inland Valley Daily Bulletin]
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