The 71 Freeway is a step closer to becoming a full-fledged freeway.
Federal elected officials, including Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona, announced earlier this month a $25 million grant had been secured to complete the second phase of the freeway widening through Pomona. The Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation provides the remaining funding needed to finish the project.
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“This is a huge win for the residents of the area, a huge win for the region,” said Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval.
The project’s completion, which Caltrans calls the “State Route 71 Expressway to Freeway Conversion Project,” will also benefit the environment by improving traffic flow, making sitting in gridlock, as often is the case, a less frequent issue, and facilitating the movement of goods and freight, he said.
Construction began in March 2019 with the demolition of 17 homes to make way for the improved roadway. The first phase was completed last year.
The grant allows Phase 2 to begin in fall 2027, with completion expected in 2031, according to Maya Pogoda, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro.
Phase 1 cost about $148.1 million, while Phase 2 is expected to cost $284 million, Pogoda wrote. Before the grant was awarded, $259 million was available for the second phase.
Part of the funding comes from Measure M, a sales tax measure approved by Los Angeles County voters in November 2016 to pay for transportation projects.
Phase 2 will close a two-mile gap in the high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, system by adding an HOV lane and one other additional lane in each direction.
This will give the roadway “more than 15 miles of HOV lanes and (improve) connections between Los Angeles County, Riverside and San Bernardino counties,” Pogoda wrote.
“The project is currently the last remaining bottleneck on the 71 Freeway and would continue expansion of the expressway, providing safer vehicular travel that is consistent with the characteristics of a highway, without abrupt changes to traffic and speeds, as it was prior,” Pomona Assistant City Manager Mark Gluba wrote in an email. ”We are excited about the promise of increased traffic flow as well as some unique improvements within the corridor.”
The widening is a joint Metro and Caltrans project, but Pomona officials have worked with Caltrans to incorporate several improvements.
Among them is a pedestrian bridge spanning the 71 and connecting Ninth Street. The bridge will accommodate bicyclists too, Gluba wrote.
“This included a partnership with the Pomona Valley Bird Alliance, the City, and Caltrans in-house Bridge Design team on a unique bridge aesthetic that celebrates the flora and fauna of the San Gabriel Mountains to the north and Prado wetlands to the south,” Gluba wrote.
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The city also worked with Caltrans on a small right-of-way acquisition along the eastern edge of Veterans Park.
The “agreement ensures that Veterans Park remains a public regional park through and after construction with no reduction in service,” Gluba wrote.
Other improvements include widening the roadway from Phillips Drive to the 10 Freeway, installing sustainable storm drainage facilities, LED freeway lighting, decorative soundwalls and pillars, landscaping at freeway ramps and upgrading signalized intersections.
Some bridges will also need to be raised to provide trains with sufficient clearance to transport cargo, Sandoval said.
There are still issues to resolve, including what Caltrans calls a signboard on Union Pacific Railroad property that must be moved to accommodate the widening, Gluba wrote.
The signboard is among billboards the city considers illegal and is part of an “expired and nullified” development agreement between Pomona and Regency Outdoor Advertising, Gluba wrote. Resolving the matter will require the involvement of Union Pacific and Caltrans.
Torres said she has spent years pursuing funding for the widening.
“Long before I was elected to Congress, I have been pushing for this effort,” the statement reads. “I’ve been a long-time supporter of improving SR-71 because it is such an important transportation corridor for my constituents and for our economy.”
Torres said that as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, she supported funding for the federal grant program and federal highway funding. Those efforts helped make more than $58 million in previous federal funding available for the 71.
Earlier this year, Torres wrote a letter supporting additional grant funding for the project, which was also prioritized by California Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, according to her statement.
71 Freeway project
A $25 million federal grant provides the state and L.A. County transportation agencies with the $284 million needed to complete the widening of the 71 through Pomona in two phases.
• Phase 1 was completed last year.
• Phase 2 is expected to begin in Fall 2027 and conclude in 2031. It will include:
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- An HOV lane and one other additional lane each direction
- Improvements to bridges and construction of a pedestrian bridge
- Installation of sustainable storm drainage facilities
- LED freeway lighting
- Decorative soundwalls and pillars
- Landscaping at freeway ramps
- Upgraded signals