Riverside County’s long-awaited Mid County Parkway is getting more money to get it closer to completion.
The Riverside County Transportation Commission voted at its Dec.10 meeting to allocate a $107 million construction contract to Riverside-based Skanska USA Civil West California District Inc. to widen and improve 8.6 miles of the Ramona Expressway portion of the Mid County Parkway project. When completed, the Mid County Parkway will be a 16-mile corridor connecting Highway 79 in San Jacinto and Hemet with the 215 Freeway in Perris.
The company will widen the expressway to two lanes in each direction from one mile east of Rider Street to Warren Road in San Jacinto, to address safety concerns — a key component of the Mid County Parkway project. According to the Riverside County Transportation Commission, the Ramona Expressway leg of the parkway project was the site of 14 fatal collisions and 17 severe injuries between 2017 and 2022.
Skanska USA will also build a raised median, wildlife crossing and a new bridge over the San Jacinto River.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2029.
“This is another long-awaited project for the San Jacinto Valley and access out of the valley,” said Linda Krupa, who represents the city of Hemet on the commission.
After years of environmental and funding challenges, construction began on the project in 2022, when the Placentia Avenue 215 Freeway interchange opened.
The commission also awarded a $48.9 million contract to Minnesota-based Ames Construction to work on the second phase of the 60 Freeway-Potrero Boulevard interchange.
That project will include a new interchange at the 60, a realigned Western Knolls Avenue and a widened, six‑lane Potrero Boulevard between Jack Rabbit Trail and the 60-10 junction.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2028.
“Safe and reliable transportation is the foundation of our daily lives — connecting us to school, work, and the people who matter to us the most,” Supervisor Karen Spiegel, RCTC chair and vice chair of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, says in a news release. “Together, these two projects will a create a safer and more connected Riverside County for us all.”
