Via The Source, Metro has released a new-fangled interactive map for its High Desert Corridor freeway project--it has all the latest crowdsourcing capabilities and even allows users to blast their comments on the project to social media sites. The map also has layers that show users all the juicy planning details, like route variations and information on the cities the route will pass through. For instance: "The City of Victorville is the only city where the HDC Alternatives would cross two highways, the US-395 and I-15." The High Desert Corridor project is a "63-mile, east-west freeway/expressway linking State Route (SR)-14 in Los Angeles County with SR-18 in San Bernardino County" (roughly Palmdale to Apple Valley). It could create a "three to six fold increase in traffic" in the areas it will serve, according to Metro.
Back in September 2010, Streetsblog reported that the project had $33 million in Measure R funds set aside, and an expected total cost of $6 billion. Back then, Caltrans was calling the project "multi-modal," which is a bit of stretch, although the project includes an alternative for a "High Speed Rail Feeder Service Right-of-Way" (the term multi-modal is now totally absent from Metro's project website). In January of this year, Streetsblog reported that public hearings for the project's draft environmental impact review were underway.
· Map gets into the details of the High Desert Corridor project [The Source]
· High Desert Corridor Project Page [Metro]
· Public Meetings for the proposed 63-mile High Desert Corridor [Streetsblog]
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