MD:Million-dollar road to link universities in Palm Desert
Work on a section of a road that will connect Palm Desert's university campuses is under way, and should be done around the start of the school year.
The city is spending $1,058,000 in redevelopment agency funds to build a 1,900-foot, four-lane roadway that will run north from Frank Sinatra Drive, then veer west toward Cook Street to connect with Berger Circle.
Berger Circle is the main entrance into California State University, San Bernardino's Palm Desert campus. The University of California, Riverside's graduate center is next door.
But to get to UCR from CSUSB, drivers must turn left onto Cook Street, turn left again onto Frank Sinatra Drive, and then make a U-turn.
The new segment will be a direct tie between the two campuses and give UCR an entrance with a traffic light off Frank Sinatra Drive. It will also shorten the commute to CSUSB for drivers on Frank Sinatra Drive coming in from the east.
“So there are many different advantages for this road, which are very much needed,” said Hamid Azhand, CSUSB director of campus planning, design and construction.
City Engineer Bo Chen said the project will be finished in mid-September, unless the design of a new water and sewer line hookup delays it by a couple of weeks.
The four-lane road's two outermost lanes will be striped for parking and converted later for traffic use as the campuses grow, Chen said.
The long-planned road was one of several redevelopment-funded projects awarded contracts by the city this spring while Gov. Jerry Brown was trying to scrap all such agencies in the state.
Palm Desert is using soil dug up at a Frank Sinatra and Portola Avenue construction site to build up the roadway at Berger Circle.
The city and colleges ultimately plan to build out Berger Circle to form a complete “ring road” through the campuses.
So far Palm Desert has spent more than $17 million on projects at its two university campuses, city spokesman David Hermann said.
Blake Herzog covers Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage for The Desert Sun, and can be reached at (760) 778-4757 or blake.herzog@thedesertsun.com.
