For Indio residents, the new year can’t come soon enough. That’s when an $11.5 million construction project is set to begin on a two-mile section of Highway 111.
If all goes well, it should be completed by Thanksgiving of 2018.
All work will come to a halt in April for Coachella and Stagecoach. In addition, construction will be done in sections to minimize the construction time in front of any one particular business.
According to news release from Indio City Hall, the project will include:
- Widening of Highway 111 from two “through lanes” in each direction to three “through lanes” in each direction;
- Replacing/reconstruction of all the existing pavement with new pavement;
- Replacing all six traffic signals with new modern traffic signals that interact;
- Replacing nearly all 60 existing driveways with a new ADA-compliant driveway that also makes ingress and egress to the businesses easier;
- Improving drainage the area of Highway 111 and Monroe to help alleviate flooding in that area;
- Replacing all the access ramps, along with other ADA (access) improvements, along the sidewalks.
The City Council is expected to award the bid for the project in October.
Money for the project is coming from a variety of sources, including Measure X funds. Measure X is a one-cent local sales tax that residents and out-of-town visitors who shop in Indio. The tax does not apply to prescription drugs or food purchased as groceries. Voters approved the measure in November 2016.
Other money to help pay for the construction project will come from city Transportation funds, money from the Coachella Valley Association of Governments and federal transportation grant funds.
