Project Overview

The Riverside County Transportation Department in cooperation with the City of Jurupa Valley, the Riverside County Transportation Commission and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is proposing to grade separate the existing Jurupa Road and Union Pacific Railroad at grade crossing located in the City of Jurupa Valley. For more information regarding this project, please visit our project webpage https://www.jurupagradeseparation.com

Project Purpose & Need

Regional population growth and increasing rail freight traffic from the ports has increased congestion and delays at the existing at-grade crossing. These delays affect the traveling public and hinder the access of emergency vehicles. This can result in increased response times for emergency personnel serving the area. The nearest grade separated crossing is at Limonite Avenue 1.6 miles to the south. The congestion also contributes to air pollution with direct impacts to the local community. The primary objective of this project is to improve the operations and safety of the project site.

In addition to the gate down time due to freight and commuter train traffic, the UPRR crossing at Jurupa Road has a history of blockages by freight trains stopped at the crossing. The stoppages result from the crossing being near some switching yards, siding tracks and a commuter rail station. The operating agreements give the commuter trains the priority and freight trains may have to sit on the siding tracks until the commuter train passes. Rising goods movement from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will increase train traffic, and consequently, amplify the frequency of this problem. A study done by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) found that trains leaving from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach towards the Alameda Corridor are responsible for moving more than 200 million gross tons of goods. This is one of the densest movements of goods in the country.

The daily vehicle and train volumes were counted on 10/16/07. The counts consist of 24 hour directional volume count every 15 minutes. The total vehicle count was 18,060, which consisted of autos, school buses, passenger buses and trucks transporting hazardous materials. Train counts were taken on 09/17/07, and the trains consisted of freight trains and Metrolink Commuter Trains. The gate down time and vehicle delays for each train was observed and applied to the total daily train count per the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) data.

Average daily traffic count – 18,060 vehicles per day, including:

• 80 school buses

• 87 passenger buses

• 6 hazmat trucks

Average daily train count – 76 trains per day, including:

• 21 Metrolink passenger trains

• 2 Amtrak passenger trains

• 13 freight trains

• 7 switching trains

The Jurupa Road crossing is considered the top ranked at-grade crossing in need of a grade separation in the County.

Project Location

Project Documents

Jurupa plan view (pdf)

Project News