DESERT HOT SPRINGS – Riverside County will begin construction this summer on sidewalk improvements that will enhance safety for students and parents who walk to Bubbling Wells Elementary School near Desert Hot Springs.
The Avenida Rambla and Camino Campesino Sidewalk Safety Project is the third sidewalk improvement project since 2011 in the community surrounding the school, which is located in the unincorporated area near the City of Desert Hot Springs.
The project continues the Riverside County Transportation Department’s efforts to build safe and handicap accessible pedestrian paths in an area that did not have sidewalks when it was first developed. Approximately half of the school’s 816 students walk or bike to school.
The Avenida Rambla project will construct approximately 2,300 linear feet of new sidewalk at Avenida Rambla, between Bubbling Wells Elementary School and Camino Aventura, and Camino Campesino, between Avenida Rambla and Bubbling Wells Road. The project will include curb and gutter, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant curb ramps, driveway approach adjustments, and sign and mailbox replacement.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to award the $205,340 construction contract on Tuesday. The project is funded entirely by a grant from the Active Transportation Program, state funds awarded to the county.
In 2011, the county installed more than 2,100 feet of sidewalk on Camino Campanero, between Avenida Descanso and Avenida Florencita. In 2014, the county completed the Avenida Florencita Sidewalk Project, which extended the sidewalk and replaced damaged rolled curb on the east side of Avenida Florencita, between Camino Aventura and Camino Campanero.
Altogether, the three sidewalk improvement projects total $824,340 in state and local funding.
Work on the Avenida Rambla project is scheduled to begin in summer 2016, while the school is closed for summer break.