City of Corona says McKinley Street grade separation on track for late‑summer completion

McKinley Street’s long-running grade‑separation project in the City of Corona is on track for completion and full traffic opening in mid to late summer, city officials said at a public project update meeting.

The project team reported completed work on several major elements, including the Estelle Road intersection improvements, the Paseo Los Arcos (Loop Road) approaches just short of McKinley Street, and most State Route 91 ramp work. Officials said the remaining critical work is a planned connection to a 30‑inch transmission water line, which they expect to make within days. Alan Zheng, the city’s senior engineer, said, “we are projecting, completion of the project and traffic on the bridge by late summer of this year.”

Why it matters: the grade‑separation project replaces an at‑grade railroad crossing with a bridge and associated highway, drainage, retaining wall and utility work. The water transmission connection feeds about one‑third of the city, so the timing and execution of that tie‑in are essential to finishing underground work and moving into final paving and surface work.

Project progress and schedule The city’s presentation showed recent drone footage and photographs documenting progress. Alan Zheng and Josh Cosper, program manager for Mark Thomas (the city’s program management consultant), said most underground work is complete and crews are finishing retaining walls, final base paving and cleanup on the east side of McKinley. Cosper said the team is…