Riverside Freeway
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The Riverside Freeway is the assigned name of a segment of California State Route 91 (CA/SR-91), a major east-west freeway located entirely within Southern California that links the cities/communities of Orange and Riverside counties. This named segment extends from the Santa Ana Freeway, Interstate 5 (I-5), in Buena Park to its eastern terminus at its junction with the San Bernardino Freeway, Interstate 10 (I-10) in San Bernardino. Note that the freeway's number assignment changes to Interstate 215 (I-215) at its junction with the Pomona Freeway, California State Route (CA/SR-60) in Riverside. Thus, for the last 6 miles of its eastern alignment is the Riverside Freeway, Interstate 215. A novel feature, for California, is the presence of the toll road (the 91 Express Lanes) that shares alignment with the Riverside Freeway.
91 Express Lanes
Due to rapid population growth and the decline in the availability of 'affordable' housing closer to job centers in Orange County, new residential development began in earnest in western Riverside County (consistent with similar accelerated growth throughout the Inland Empire) during the 1980's which continues to this day. This new development is occurring in or around existing cities such as Riverside, Corona, Norco, and Moreno Valley. Unfortunately, as there are very few direct routes between Orange and Riverside Counties because of the Santa Ana Mountains that separates them, the Riverside Freeway is subject to very heavy traffic volume comprised primarily of commuters traveling between where they work in Orange County and where they live in Riverside County (often called by traffic reporters "The Corona Crawl").
Solutions to the traffic problem were limited. The chosen solution was to create a toll road in the median of the freeway. The toll road route operates between the Orange/Riverside county line and the Costa Mesa Freeway, California State Highway (CA/SR-55) interchange in eastern Anaheim - a distance of about 10 miles. The project was developed in partnership with the California Department of Transportation ((Caltrans)) by California Private Transportation Company (CPTC). CPTC formally transferred ownership of the facility to the State of California prior to opening the project to traffic on December 27, 1995. Caltrans then leased the toll road back to CPTC for a 35-year operating period. The new lanes have been officially designated a part of the California State Highway System. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is responsible for providing police services at CPTC's expense. Maintenance and operational costs for the facility are also the responsibility of CPTC. In April, 2002, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) reached an agreement in concept to purchase the private toll road project for $207.5 million. OCTA took possession of the Toll Road on January 3, 2003.
The 91 Express Lanes were the first privately funded tollway built in the United States since the 1940s, and the first fully automated tollway in the world. Tolls are collected when a vehicle carrying a transponder mounted on the inside of the vehicle's windshield passes beneath the toll 'booth' (actually a transceiver array above the toll lanes that is located at about the five-mile point of the toll road). Other characteristics of the toll road include: variable toll based on traffic volume (i.e. variable congestion pricing) with road signs alerting users to the toll to be paid; an alignment contained entirely within the median of the existing Riverside Freeway with two (2) lanes in each direction; limited access provided only at the east and west ends of the toll road (at which point the toll lanes become 'regular' carpool lanes; and separation between the regular, main lanes of the Riverside Freeway provided only by reflective yellow, 3' high, plastic lane markers (as opposed to concrete barriers or a similar 'solid' barrier).
Cities/Communities along the Riverside Freeway (west to east)
Major Freeways/Highways intersecting with the Riverside Freeway (west to east)
- Santa Ana Freeway - Interstate 5 (I-5) in Buena Park
- Orange Freeway - California State Route 57 (CA/SR-57) in Anaheim
- Costa Mesa Freeway - California State Route 55 (CA/SR-55) in Anaheim
- Imperial Highway (surface street) - California State Highway 90 (CA/SR-90) in Anaheim
- Eastern Transportation Corridor - California State Highway 241 (CA/SR-241) in Anaheim
- Chino Valley Freeway - California State Highway 71 (CA/SR-71) in Corona
- Ontario Freeway - Interstate 15 (I-15) in Corona
- Pomona Freeway/Moreno Valley Freeway - California State Highway 60 (CA/SR-60) in Riverside
- Escondido Freeway - Interstate 215 (California) (I-215)