Work Begins on Washington/42 Improvements
Desert Unified School District in cooperation with the Riverside County Department of Transportation has begun an improvement project for the intersection of Avenue 42 and Washington Street.
The main improvements at that intersection include two westbound left turn lanes (instead of the one lane which is currently used for southbound Washington traffic) and replacement of the traffic lane “delineators” with a permanent, raised, traffic island.
Westbound traffic on Avenue 42 transitioning to southbound Washington en route to Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School traffic has been bottled up because of the single left turn lane. The plan is to have the raised island extend to a point east of the “normal” entry/exit on the parking lot of the Ralph’s/Walgreen’s shopping center… but to still allow loading dock traffic ingress and egress on the far eastern end of the parking lot. Signs will guide motorists who want to make a left turn onto Avenue 42 to the loading dock exit.
When the project is completed, expected in early autumn, traffic flow should be improved, and the esthetics will also be enhanced.
If you have questions about this project, you can call the County’s Transportation Office here in the Coachella Valley at 863-8267.