City Touts $1 Million State Grant to Fix 'the Worst Intersection in Redlands'

The City of Redlands has received a $1 million state grant to upgrade the Redlands Boulvard-Alabama Street intersection, a city spokesman announced Wednesday.

According to city officials, work could begin on improvements "by the latter half of 2013."

The intersection at Redlands Boulevard and Alabama Street is "officially acknowledged as the worst intersection in the City," Redlands spokesman Carl Baker said.

"The intersection is the busiest in the City, with nearly 50,000 vehicles traveling through it on a daily basis," Baker said. "During peak hours, motorists often wait through several light cycles to move through the intersection."

Baker listed more observations about the intersection:

- The difficulty is exacerbated by the original design of the intersection in which through lanes on Alabama Street shift as much as 22 feet as they cross Redlands Boulevard.

- The intersection experienced more than 60 auto collisions, half of them injury accidents, over the decade between 2000 and 2010.

- The intersection is currently designated as a Level of Service F, which is the lowest level possible.

"The City Council identified this intersection as a priority project several years ago and the City has been setting aside funds from Measure I and other local transportation funds in anticipation of the eventual improvement project," Baker said. "Over the past several years, the City, under council direction, has set aside nearly $5 million for the intersection work."
 
A design for the work presented to the City Council in January 2012 realigns the through lanes on Alabama Street and adds one through lane and one left turn lane in each direction, Baker said.

"The new design would bring the intersection to a Level of Service B or better, Baker said. "It would remain no lower than Level of Service C through 2025."

The city's Municipal Utilities and Engineering Department was notified last week that Redlands had been selected for the $1 million transportation grant from the State of California, Baker said.

"This is a significant project that has been on the books as the City Council's top transportation priority for several years," Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar said. "I applaud the diligent work of our City staff in seeking available grants and other sources of funding to accomplish this and other projects, and, along with my council colleagues, stretching every available dollar so that it has the greatest positive impact for residents, businesses and those who regularly drive Redlands' streets."

In accord with the grant, design work is substantially completed and the city plans to begin construction on intersection improvements by the latter half of 2013, Baker said.

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