BY GAIL WESSON
Work is beginning to reconstruct and pave Stanford Street in East Hemet, a busy north-south street leading to Hemet High School. The 1.5-mile repaving project “is part of a series of resurfacing projects we are doing in East Hemet,” Patty Romo, Riverside County Transportation Department deputy director, said by phone. The contractor, Skanska USA Civil West, received the go ahead from the county last week to proceed, Romo said. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors awarded the $2.1 million project to Skanska in October. Stanford will be repaved from Florida Avenue south to Thornton Avenue, at the south end of Hemet High School’s campus. A traffic signal will be installed at the intersection of Stanford and Mayberry Avenue. The project includes replacement of driveway cuts, curbs and gutters deemed in poor condition and sidewalk access ramps will be upgraded to meet current Americans with Disabilities Act standards. It is part of a $7.5 million effort to improve roads in the unincorporated neighborhoods adjacent to the city of Hemet. “We’re trying to capture the most heavily traveled ones first,” Romo said. The paving may result in a side benefit at the intersection of Stanford and Florida, an intersection that is often under water after heavy rains such as the storm this month. “We’re not going to put in a storm drain system, but where we can, we adjust the grade (of the roadway) so we get water flowing in the right direction so it doesn’t pond,” Romo said. Funding comes from Prop. 1B bonds, approved by voters in 2006 for transportation projects, and develop ment impact fees, collected to construct traffic signals. Construction is expected to take about two months, according to a county news release. Next on the list are repaving Columbia and Yale streets and Whittier Avenue, all south of Florida Avenue. The county has identified other streets that warrant repaving as funds become available, including sections of Acacia and Mayberry avenues and portions of Cornell, Dartmouth and Soboba streets. Contact Gail Wesson at 951-368-9075 or [email protected] ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
Riverside County Department of Transportation has several road paving and improvement projects scheduled in East Hemet in 2014 and 2015. The first in the series is Stanford Street.