New 91 Freeway lane will help Corona’s traffic woes, but officials say tweaking Green River Road ramp won’t

A new westbound 91 lane at the Riverside-Orange county line that would help relieve severe congestion has been given the green light, but transportation officials are abandoning the idea of turning off Green River Road ramp meters.

After sometimes confusing rush-hour experiments in June, September and October, Caltrans has concluded that switching off the Green River signals altogether — or allowing two cars to go with each green signal instead of one — won’t help. Trial results were presented at a Riverside County Transportation Commission subcommittee meeting Monday, Nov. 26.

But the panel set the stage for construction of the westbound general-purpose lane, which would extend from Green River to the 241 toll road. David Thomas, the commission’s toll project manager, said the lane could shave as many as 15 minutes on the morning drive from the 15 Freeway to the county line.

The panel — the Western Riverside County Programs and Projects Committee — recommended moving forward with the westbound lane, and the full commission is expected to approve those plans in December. Construction is estimated to cost $36.2 million.

Environmental studies are underway and design is expected to be completed by the end of 2019, a report stated. Construction would begin in 2020 and be completed by fall 2021.

It’s unclear, commission Executive Director Anne Mayer said, where the construction money would come from. But she indicated the agency is confident funding will be found.

Seven people — including two men recently elected to the Corona City Council — spoke during the meeting.

“Corona is at the mouth of a geographic funnel for the county,” Councilman-elect Wes Speake said. “This project is paramount to the continued growth of the rest of the county.”

Michele Wentworth, administrator of the Greater Corona Traffic Alliance social media group, said, “I just urge you to expedite this.”

“The fact that people are spending more time on the freeway post-construction is an issue,” she said. There is widespread dissatisfaction in the wake of the 2017 completion of a massive 91 expansion, which didn’t seem to make the commute more tolerable.

Councilman-elect Jim Steiner, however, wasn’t ready to give up on tweaking Green River ramp meters. He said Caltrans should give the failed attempt to improve traffic by letting two cars go with each green another try, in conjunction with extensive outreach that helps commuters understand what’s being asked of them.

That part of the experiment was carried out three days — Oct. 1-3 — then discontinued. Sheldon Mar, a traffic consultant, said just 32 percent of motorists proceeded on green with another car on the first day of the two-per-green trial. He said that rate increased to 62 percent the second day and to 67 percent on the third.

After the meeting, spokeswoman Jocelyn Whitfield said Caltrans did not intend to do any more experiments.

That’s not to say the experiments didn’t show any promise. Turning off ramp traffic signals did what many frustrated Corona commuters had hoped: it slashed delays driving west on Green River in the morning by 5 to 10 minutes.

But at the same time, Mar said, delays on the mainline of the 91 increased 1 to 3 minutes. And once commuters realized Green River Road was moving more efficiently, some abandoned the freeway, causing Green River delays to increase.

Overall, the change created more delay than it saved, Mar said. And in a surprise, he said, switching off the signals induced hundreds of commuters to dangerously merge into 91 traffic well before the on-ramp meets the 91.

The bottom line for many disappointed Corona residents is, the Green River Road on-ramp will continue to operate as it has for years, with the meters on, letting one car enter per green light.