SBCTA and Caltrans have agreed to a cooperative agreement that will bring the U.S. 395 Widening Project one step closer to construction. The standard agreement defines the roles and responsibilities between both agencies for the construction phase of the project.
The project is Phase 2 of a three phase widening of U.S. 395. Phase 2 will convert the facility from two lanes to four lanes with a raised median, turning lanes, and eight-foot shoulders between Interstate 15 (I-15) and State Route 18 (SR-18), a distance of approximately seven miles. The first phase widened U.S. 395 from SR-18 in the City of Victorville to Chamberlaine Way in the City of Adelanto. Phase 3 will finish the widening project from Chamberlaine Way to Desert Flower Street in Adelanto.
U.S. 395 was designated as a “Priority Interregional Highway” in the Caltrans 2021 Interregional Transportation Strategic Plan (ITSP) – the same designation as I-15 and State Route 58 (SR-58). As such, U.S. 395 is widely recognized as a critical linkage for goods movement, supporting the economies of multiple inland counties and an important agricultural route to/from the Central Valley. With 30,000 vehicles per day, including approximately 17% trucks, this segment is almost twice the volume as the segment of U.S. 395 immediately south of Kramer Junction at SR-58 and is four times the volume of the four-lane segments north of State Route 14 – yet it remains as two lanes.
It is the highest priority project in the entire area for jurisdictions in the Victor Valley, representing 330,000 in population, and improvement is supported by Kern, Inyo, and Mono Counties as well. It is also on the federal list of Critical Urban Freight Corridors (CUFCs). Not only will the project address a critical freight bottleneck on the state’s interregional highway system, but the raised median, bicycle/pedestrian safety features, and improved integration with transit services will give U.S. 395 a better sense of fitting into the community.