The Riverside County Transportation Commission approved staff's recommendation on the geographic distribution of Riverside County's 2026 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) fund estimate and directed staff to develop project nominations for commission adoption this fall.

Jenny (Jenny/Jenny Chan) Chan, planning and programming manager at RCTC, presented the item and explained the STIP fund-estimate process. The California Transportation Commission adopted a 2026 STIP fund estimate of $1.1 billion on Aug. 14, 2025. Of that statewide pool, Riverside County's formula share calculated to approximately $32,700,000 for the 2026 STIP cycle, with allocations available in fiscal years 2029–30 and 2030–31.

Under the commission's longstanding intracounty allocation memorandum of understanding, RCTC staff proposed using 5% for planning, programming and monitoring (PPM) and then distributing the remaining funds by sales-tax-based shares. Using current sales-tax data, staff showed Western County's share would be 80.16%, Coachella Valley 19.47% and Palo Verde Valley 0.37%—which produces an estimated Western County allocation of about $25 million, Coachella Valley about $6 million, and Palo Verde about $115,000. Staff noted the small Palo Verde share has been handled in past cycles by a trade agreement with Measure A Western Riverside County Highway funds.

Staff emphasized the limits of the funding: construction costs have risen substantially since SB 1 and other revenue sources are declining as vehicles become more fuel efficient and electric, so the STIP share is modest compared with typical project costs. Chan gave examples: recently completed corridor projects have been orders of magnitude larger than the STIP allocation for this cycle.

The commission asked about the project nomination process. Chan said there is no new countywide call for projects; staff will develop project nominations for Western County, coordinate with CVAG (Coachella Valley Association of Governments) on the Coachella Valley share, present a recommended list for commission adoption this fall, and submit the 2026 STIP to the California Transportation Commission by Dec. 15, 2025. The commission also directed staff to prepare an MOU with the City of Blythe on the Palo Verde share after the CTC adopts the statewide STIP in spring 2026.

A motion to approve the fund-distribution recommendation was moved and seconded; the item passed on roll-call vote. Commissioners were reminded that the $25 million is unlikely to fund a large interchange on its own and that strategic prioritization at the local level will be required to maximize deliverable outcomes.

Next steps: staff will return with project nominations for Western County and coordinate with CVAG for Coachella Valley nominations; staff will submit the county's package to the California Transportation Commission by the Dec. 15, 2025 deadline.