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Riverside County Road Project Will Widen SR 79, Improve Safety By Chuck MacDonald CEG CORRESPONDENT
State Route 79 snakes along southern Riverside County, carrying motorists through a highdesert region. The two-lane highway connects to Temecula and Interstate 15 in the north and to State Route 76 in the south, passing through the small community of Aguanga on the way. Over the past few years, the population growth and increased traffic have led to congestion and safety concerns. Caltrans commissioned Ortiz Enterprises to widen the shoulders by 8 ft., both northbound and southbound, for 6.5 mi. Begun in March 2025, the project is expected to be completed by summer 2027. The job is now 45 percent finished and will cost $61 million. John Britt is the project manager for Ortiz. He told Construction Equipment Guide that the job is more than just a simple road widening. Traffic has been rapidly increasing both from the commuters during the week and from the RVs and loaded pickups with bikes and motorcycles for desert
recreation during the weekend. In addition, many motorists use the route as a back door to Palm Springs and Hemet, while avoiding Interstates. Managing traffic is always a concern for highway projects. To mitigate disruption to the travelling public, the Ortiz team came up with an idea to eliminate one stage of construction. They decided that rather than build a temporary surface during construction, the workers would make that pavement permanent, eliminating a stage. “Having a 2-foot-wide shoulder is no longer an option,” Britt told Construction Equipment Guide. “When there is a breakdown or accident, the traffic stops because there is nowhere for the disabled vehicles to go. The wider shoulders will be a place to move accidents. It would also provide space for traffic when future road repairs are done.” Workers performed the grading operation during the day and then paved the 6 mi. of northbound widening in less than three weeks of night work. This enabled the construction team to work when traffic was light and also avoided the searing summer
desert temperatures. Handling traffic and paving were only part of the project. The Ortiz team provided protection for the road from rockslides on one side and steep dropoffs on the other. It also had to build fills in areas of steep dropoffs and excavate into solid rock in areas of steep embankment to widen the roadway. Preventing Rockslides “With some of the steep areas, we stabilized the hills by drilling into them and creating soil nail walls. We then injected grout and finalized it with a rebar mat,” Britt said. “Once the top part of the hill was stabilized, we brought in an excavator and removed more dirt and rock. Again, we secured the ground with nail walls and the rebar mat.” Nail wall techniques call for the contractor to drive nails as long as 20 ft. into the hillside to stabilize the dirt and rock. The soil nail walls are constructed from the top down, excavating in increments of 5 to 10 ft. a time, depending on slope stability. Each layer receives several soil nails drilled, grouted and see RIVERSIDE page 6
Workers used class 2 aggregate for the base of the new shoulders and 6 in. of asphalt.