(Photo courtesy of Riverside County Transportation Commission)
Riverside County voters approved Measure A with about 70% of the vote, continuing the half-cent sales tax that helps pay for transportation projects across the county.
Lake Elsinore has received $23.5 million in Measure A funding for local streets and road improvements between 2010 and June 2025, according to Riverside County Transportation Commission.
Measure A was first approved by Riverside County voters in 1988 and renewed in 2002. It provides funding for local streets and roads, major regional transportation projects, Metrolink and other public transportation services. RCTC administers the funds and distributes them among three areas of the county: Western Riverside County, the Coachella Valley and the Palo Verde Valley, based on how much each area contributes.
Lake Elsinore Mayor Bob Magee highlighted Measure A during council comments at the Nov. 10 City Council meeting.
“Measure A is a continuation of the half-cent sales tax that goes to improve our highways,” Magee said. “It was not a new tax, it was simply a continuation of the existing tax.”
Magee also pointed to an upcoming project.
“The very first project in the queue is the extension of two lanes in each direction from Cajalco to Central, along the I-15 corridor, 15 miles,” he said.
RCTC lists the project on its website as the I-15 Express Lanes Project Southern Extension. The project is planned to add two toll express lanes in each direction along approximately 15.8 miles of I-15, from El Cerrito Road in Corona to State Route 74 (Central Avenue) in Lake Elsinore.
The project also includes auxiliary lanes on southbound I-15 between the Nichols Road on-ramp and Main Street off-ramp in Lake Elsinore.
RCTC received environmental approval for the project in December 2025 and awarded a Phase 1 progressive design-build contract in May 2026. The project is now in the design and pre-construction phase.
Magee said the project was previously estimated to cost $2 billion, but that city officials were recently briefed on a new estimate of $900 million.
“They found a way to chop off half,” Magee said. “We have most of the funding now in place.”
He said the project is still about $240 million short and that the remaining amount could be covered through grants and other financing options.
RCTC currently lists the project’s estimated cost at $985 million and says it is exploring federal, state, local and toll-supported funding options. Construction could begin in 2028 and the lanes could open by 2030.
“We believe that we can have the new lanes constructed by the end of 2030, so, a good day for Lake Elsinore, and for Riverside County commuters,” Magee said.
