Boomtown along the 210

The Times' Rong-Gong Lin II reports that officials in the Inland Empire see a boom with Tuesday's opening of the 210 Freeway (and we don't mean more traffic):

Workers this week were still putting up signs and assembling guardrails that align the shoulders. Once the extension opens, the eight-lane freeway is expected to carry an average of 163,000 vehicles per day, up from the average of 132,000 vehicles per day now seen at the border of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Work began on the extension in 2003, and is mostly funded by San Bernardino County's half-cent-on-the-dollar transportation sales tax. Residents throughout western San Bernardino County have been longing for the opening for months. "I'm very excited. It's personally going to help me in my commute," said Fontana Mayor Mark Nuaimi, who commutes east to Colton, where he works as the assistant city manager. "It will finally complete the bridge between our west and east valleys." Nuaimi said he expected Fontana and surrounding communities to reap the benefits of the 210 Freeway extension. In 2002, officials completed a section of the 210 Freeway that connected his city to the San Gabriel Valley, which he credits with fueling an economic boom.

Comments

[russell]

Another freeway obsolete on opening day. The idea that freeways are any longer a viable infrastructure investment are blinded by development dollars. The insanity never ends.

[Bill]

This dream is over 30 years old, how nice to see it built at last.