Several Miles of Carpool Lanes Now Open on I-10

Caltrans officials today celebrated the opening of 4.4 miles of carpool lanes on the San Bernardino (10) Freeway between the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway and Puente Avenue in Baldwin Hills.

The westbound carpool lane opened to traffic yesterday, while the eastbound lane in the same stretch opened Friday.

"This section of road averages more than 200,000 vehicle trips per day, so these additional lanes will be of tremendous benefit to the motoring public," Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty said. "Caltrans is taking direct steps to reduce travel times on some of the state's most congested highways, and this is a vital route in the Los Angeles area's regional freeway system."

The latest stretch of carpool lanes are part of an overall project that will provide carpool lanes between downtown Los Angeles and San Bernardino County. The lanes cost $180 million, which Caltrans officials noted was under the budgeted $192 million.

The next two phases of the project will extend the lanes from Baldwin Hills to Citrus Street in West Covina, then to state Route 57 near Pomona, according to Caltrans.

-- City News Service