A little bit of progress in the Inland Empire

The improvements for the interchange of the 60, 91 and 215 freeways in Riverside have experienced more than their share of troubles (delays and questions about efficiency among them). But a small step has been taken, according to the Riverside Press-Enterprise:

A bypass separating trucks from the rest of traffic at the 60/215 interchange opened [last week], part of the state's largest freeway interchange project -- the 60/91/215 overhaul, now in its fourth year of construction. Caltrans District 8 Director Michael Perovich said at a morning ribbon-cutting ceremony that the growing Inland population has increased the number of large commercial trucks on the freeways. The bypass, which has been under construction for about a year and a half, will help alleviate traffic at the interchange, where trucks slow because of the incline, Perovich said. "It takes traffic off the freeway and speeds traffic on the freeway up," he said. Completion of the interchange project is already a year overdue. Caltrans expects the entire $368-million project, more than $50 million over budget, to be finished in October.