DATE: 06/17/2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Public Works Department
2026-232
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH RIVERSIDE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION
COMMISSION AND FOOTHILL/EASTERN TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR AGENCY
FOR THE FAIR SHARE CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENTS
ALONG THE GREEN RIVER ROAD/FOOTHILL PARKWAY CORRIDOR
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks City Council to approve and authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Cooperative Agreement with Riverside County Transportation Commission and Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency for the fair contribution towards traffic improvements along the Green River Road/Foothill Parkway corridor.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Approve the Cooperative Agreement with the Riverside County Transportation Commission and Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency for the fair share contribution towards traffic improvements to the Green River Road/Foothill Parkway corridor.
b. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Cooperative Agreement with Riverside County Transportation Commission and Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency on the fair share contribution towards traffic improvements to the Green River Road/Foothill Parkway corridor. c. Accept $513,067 for the cooperative agreement with the Riverside County Transportation Commission and Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency. d. Authorize an appropriation in the amount of $513,067 to the Advanced Traffic Management System Phase 3 & Master Plan Update, Capital Improvement Project No. ST-2017-01 and increase revenue estimates by the same amount in the Public Works Grants/Agreement Fund 243.
e. Approve any modifications to the form of the agreement deemed necessary by the City Attorney, which do not impact the compensation to be paid and are consistent with the Council’s direction herein.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) is implementing the State Route (SR) 91 Eastbound Corridor Operations Project (91 ECOP), which adds a sixth operational lane along eastbound SR 91 from the 241/91 interchange. This additional lane will connect to the State Route 71, is designed to enhance traffic flow, improve safety, and reduce congestion along the eastbound SR-91 corridor. This project will also add a third right-turn lane at the SR 91 eastbound off-ramp at Green River Road.
Another project that will be constructed by the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA), the SR 241/SR 91 Express Connector project (241/91 EC), which will provide a direct-tolled connector linking the northbound SR-241 toll road to the eastbound 91 Express Lanes and the westbound 91 Express Lanes to the southbound SR 241 toll road along with other related corridor improvements to enhance throughput between Riverside and Orange Counties. Both projects will relieve traffic congestion, enhance connectivity between the two tolled systems, improve air quality along the corridor, and promote safety for the traveling public.
As part of its project, RCTC prepared a traffic analysis for Green River Road/Foothill Parkway to assess potential increases in cut-through traffic from the 91 ECOP and 241/91 EC on the Green River Road and Foothill Parkway corridor. The study’s results were concurred by city staff and presented to the City Council on August 6, 2025.
ANALYSIS:
This traffic analysis provided the basis for the fair-share agreement among the City, RCTC, and TCA to improve the Green River Road/Foothill Parkway corridor and alleviate a potential increase in traffic. Since November 2025, City of Corona, RCTC, and TCA staff met biweekly to discuss a fair share agreement. Based on the study, RCTC and TCA’s projects would introduce new trips onto Green River Road at SR-91. This increase of volume distributes and dissipates easterly throughout the Green River Road/Foothill Parkway corridor continuing through onto I-15. This distribution pattern served as the basis for calculating the fair‑ share percentages, with each agency’s share determined by the proportion of project‑ generated trips assigned to the corridor.
As part of the discussion, City staff identified several traffic-related improvements along the Green River Road/Foothill Parkway corridor that were used as a cost basis for the fair share determination. Considering the nature of some of the technology-based corridor improvements, traffic management costs were also included in the cost. The addition of traffic management cost brought the total cost to approximately $3.3 million. A fair share cost for these improvements was determined by applying the relative increase in traffic volume from the traffic analysis for Green River Road/Foothill Parkway at each intersection along the corridor, The total fair share cost of these improvements was determined using this methodology, agreed upon by all agencies, which resulted in a total fair share cost of $513,067 to be paid to the City of Corona, shared between RCTC and TCA.
Therefore, staff recommends approval of the fair share Cooperative Agreement in the amount of $513,067 to the City to be paid for by RCTC and TCA Please note that the study did not include the opening of the I-15 Express Lane Southern Extension project, which would extend the express lanes from Cajalco Road in the City of Corona to SR-74 in the City of Lake Elsinore. The opening of this project could potentially reduce additional cut-through traffic in the City of Corona.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Approval of the recommended actions will result in an appropriation in the amount of $513,067 to the Advanced Traffic Management System Phase 3 & Master Plan Update, Capital Improvement Project No. ST-2017-01 and an estimated revenue increase by the same amount in the Public Works Grants/Agreement Fund 243. The City would receive $513,067 for traffic-related improvements to the Green River Road/Foothill Parkway corridor for potential increases in cut-through traffic related to the RCTC’s 91 Eastbound Corridor Operations Project, and TCA’s 241/91 Express Connector project.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
These actions are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Action (CEQA), as the actions are not a “project” as defined by CEQA (PRC Section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15378), guidelines which define a “project” as the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or reasonable foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and that is an activity directly undertaking by any public agency including public works construction and related activities. These actions involve the approval of a Fair Share Agreement.
Therefore, no environmental analysis is required at this time.
PREPARED BY: ROSALVA URENO, TRANSPORTATION MANAGER\CITY TRAFFIC
ENGINEER
REVIEWED BY: SAVAT KHAMPHOU, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Exhibit 1 – Cooperative Agreement