DHS Helped Fund CV Link. Why Was It Left Out?

Desert Hot Springs Helped Fund CV Link. Why Was It Left Out? [Opinion]

Regional infrastructure projects are often justified on equity grounds, improving health outcomes, reducing pollution, and expanding access to active transportation, especially for disadvantaged communities. That makes CV Link worth a closer look, particularly as it relates to Desert Hot Springs.

Desert Hot Springs had clear ties to two major CV Link funding sources, environmental mitigation from a nearby power plant and tax dollars from a healthcare district supported by its residents, yet the project itself bypassed the city entirely. That raises fair questions about equity and fairness.

One funding source traces back to the CV Sentinel Power Station, which is located within the Desert Hot Springs airshed. More than $17 million in mitigation funds tied to the plant were awarded to the Coachella Valley Association of Governments for CV Link. Under AB 1318, those funds were to be directed toward air quality mitigation, with active transportation projects qualifying.

While the environmental impacts of pollution from this power plant were borne by Desert Hot Springs, none of the mitigation funds used for CV Link were spent to build any portion of the project in the city.

A second funding source came from the Desert Healthcare District, which committed $10 million to CV Link. The District is funded by property taxes paid by residents, including Desert Hot Springs. The city is among the poorest in the District and faces significant health equity challenges and limited safe mobility options.

The District justified its funding based on public health benefits from walking, biking, and reduced vehicle emissions. Yet CV Link does not enter Desert Hot Springs, and no segment serves its residents.

This outcome is especially notable because Desert Hot Springs supported CV Link from its earliest planning stages, when the project was known as 1E11. The City Council voted three times in support.

Interstate 10 is often cited as a barrier, but an existing low traffic bridge at Garnet Avenue already provides access to Desert Hot Springs and requires no new construction. It was not an engineering hurdle. Desert Hot Springs was simply left out of the project.

Taken together, more than $27 million of CV Link funding came from sources directly tied to Desert Hot Springs. Yet the city received no segment, no infrastructure, and no direct benefit.

It is time for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments and the Desert Healthcare District to fund a comparable active transportation path in Desert Hot Springs, even if that path in the interim is not directly connected to CV Link.

Disadvantaged residents should not be asked to help fund regional solutions while being left entirely outside of them. Equity and fairness require fair results.