Riverside officials and Beaumont leaders break ground on SR-60 Potrero Boulevard Interchange Phase 2

Riverside County Transportation Commission Chair Raymond Gregory and City of Beaumont leaders onstage Friday led a ceremonial groundbreaking for the State Route 60 Potrero Boulevard Interchange Phase 2 project, saying the work will ease traffic and better connect Beaumont with the surrounding region.

"If there's one word that captures this project, it's partnership," RCTC Chair Raymond Gregory said, framing the project as the product of cooperation between regional agencies and the City of Beaumont. He introduced local officials and project partners before the ceremony's blessing and national anthem.

The nut of the project is funding and access: city officials said the City of Beaumont contributed more than $3 million in local funds. Organizers announced $31.7 million from the state's Trade Corridor Enhancement Program, $13.5 million from the Temecula Pass Zone and $8 million from an RCTC regional arterial program as key sources for Phase 2 construction.

"Beaumont is experiencing remarkable growth," Mayor Jessica Voight said, and she described the new ramps as expected to "significant[ly] improve" traffic flow for residents and the broader region. Voight and other speakers tied the project to ongoing local development and other interchange projects planned near I-10 and Beaumont Avenue.

Mayor Pro Tem Lloyd White gave a retrospective account of the local effort to complete earlier bridge work, saying private developers helped close funding gaps in the past and describing the current Phase 2 work as the culmination of more than a decade of local advocacy. White recalled a developer, Bruce McDonald, who provided funds to finish earlier bridge construction and said the new ramps will "change traffic patterns throughout the city." White also recounted past administrative challenges tied to earlier bridge costs.

Chris Gray, interim executive director of the Western Riverside County Council of Governments, credited the TUMF developer-fee program with providing regional support, saying the program "has collected over a billion dollars" and has funded roughly 150 projects that helped make the interchange possible.

Sponsors, contractors and project partners were acknowledged during the ceremony, which closed with a group photo and a ceremonial turning of the first dirt. Officials said they expect the project to advance to construction and suggested ramps could open in about two years, with a ribbon-cutting planned thereafter.

The ceremony included a tribal blessing by Ernest Siva of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, a colors presentation by the Beaumont High School Air Force Junior ROTC and the national anthem performed by Jordan Thomas.

Construction timing, phased work schedules, and final contract details were not specified during the ceremony; organizers and staff were thanked for their roles in moving the project forward, and the event concluded with elected officials and staff posing for photographs.