How does Hemet, CA not have a single freeway accessing it?

[thsftw]

Considering where it is and the fact that its most recent population estimate is 89,833...I think it might be the biggest city in the state currently not served by a freeway. Are there any plans to bypass and upgrade CA 79 and CA 74? Since its in the inland empire and desert regions, I wouldn't think environmental concerns would be a huge issue.

[brad2971]

Considering where it is and the fact that its most recent population estimate is 89,833...I think it might be the biggest city in the state currently not served by a freeway. Are there any plans to bypass and upgrade CA 79 and CA 74? Since its in the inland empire and desert regions, I wouldn't think environmental concerns would be a huge issue.

https://www.rctc.org/projects/sr-79-realignment-project/

And though this may be a little north of Hemet, this may help overall traffic in the area: https://www.rctc.org/projects/mid-county-parkway-ramona/

[kphoger]

I think it might be the biggest city in the state currently not served by a freeway.

This appears to be correct.

Here's a more or less comprehensive list of California cities with no freeways, using 35,000 as the arbitrary cutoff:

Hemet, Riverside County - 78,657
La Habra, Orange County - 60,239
Gardena, Los Angeles County - 58,829
Huntington Park, Los Angeles County - 58,114
Palm Desert, Riverside County - 48,445
Poway, San Diego County - 47,811
Cypress, Orange County - 47,802
San Jacinto, Riverside County - 44,199
Lompoc, Santa Barbara County - 42,434
Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County - 41,643
Calexico, Imperial County - 38,572
Stanton, Orange County - 38,186
La Quinta, Riverside County - 37,467
Los Banos, Merced County - 35,972
Temple City, Los Angeles, County - 35,558

Expanding on that, Hemet is the only Census-defined Urban Area in California that has no freeways within its boundaries (pop. 163,379).

Hemet thus is California's largest city without a freeway of any sort (78K population, 96th largest in the state), with I-215 running 8 miles to the west of the city limits, and I-10 12 miles to the north of the north city limit.

[Max Rockatansky]

Having worked in Hemet I don't understand the attraction that draws so many people there.  79 north of the city is close to being adequate, it really does need a proper interchange with I-10 somewhere near Beaumont.  74 is just plain overwhelmed west of Hemet due to the in growth south of Riverside.  The lack of full limited access roads is one thing, the conventional highways in the area almost all entirely suck and have safety issues.  Gillman Springs Road (old CA 83) in particular is pretty damn brutal between Hemet and Moreno Valley.

[NE2]

They don't want Xenu to have any potential landing strips.

[Max Rockatansky]

How much runway space do Galactic DC9s need to land?  There isn't that many good open calderas with lava lakes around Hemet anyways.

[Road Hog]

My favorite area code is 951 and there remain numerous things I cannot explain about it. Maybe the tweakers present too much of a traffic obstacle.

[sprjus4]

Having worked in Hemet I don't understand the attraction that draws so many people there.  79 north of the city is close to being adequate, it really does need a proper interchange with I-10 somewhere near Beaumont.  74 is just plain overwhelmed west of Hemet due to the in growth south of Riverside.  The lack of full limited access roads is one thing, the conventional highways in the area almost all entirely suck and have safety issues.  Gillman Springs Road (old CA 83) in particular is pretty damn brutal between Hemet and Moreno Valley.

The Domenigoni Pkwy seems to be a decently adequate connector / bypass of CA-74 between Hemet and I-215. Looks to a 4 to 6 lane limited access arterial route with some intersections that maintains a 65 mph posted speed limit.

[tawnuskgrevy]

The Domenigoni Pkwy seems to be a decently adequate connector / bypass of CA-74 between Hemet and I-215. Looks to a 4 to 6 lane limited access arterial route with some intersections that maintains a 65 mph posted speed limit.

The major issue with Domengioni Parkway is that instead of leaving it as limited access all the way along, they're building housing subdivisions all along it to the west of CA-79, which will almost certainly all come with traffic lights for protected left turns and therefore kneecap the ability of the Parkway to function as a high-speed arterial. It definitely *could* have been part of a solution for the area, but once all those houses are built and sold and lived in, the same thing will happen to Domengioni as happened to CA-79/Winchester Road through French Valley and Dutch Village.

[skluth]

The Domenigoni Pkwy seems to be a decently adequate connector / bypass of CA-74 between Hemet and I-215. Looks to a 4 to 6 lane limited access arterial route with some intersections that maintains a 65 mph posted speed limit.

The major issue with Domengioni Parkway is that instead of leaving it as limited access all the way along, they're building housing subdivisions all along it to the west of CA-79, which will almost certainly all come with traffic lights for protected left turns and therefore kneecap the ability of the Parkway to function as a high-speed arterial. It definitely *could* have been part of a solution for the area, but once all those houses are built and sold and lived in, the same thing will happen to Domengioni as happened to CA-79/Winchester Road through French Valley and Dutch Village.

Tthe Ramona Expressway isn't too bad to get from Hemet to I-215. Unfortunately, it's getting worse with time. I'm sure the same will happen to the Domengioni Parkway though I haven't used it so I can't say.  I don't think Hemet needs a freeway, but a mostly non-stop expressway to both I-215 and I-10 would be nice. CA 79 is pretty good to I-10 but it can become a traffic nightmare at the I-10 interchange.

[Plutonic Panda]

They also should get on the ball with planning a fully directional Y interchange at I-10. At present a few dozen buildings might be needed, but it wouldn't really receive too much NIMBY pushback like it would as if there were apartments or houses. Just buy up vacant land to prevent any new development and slowly, but surely by up existing development.

Wouldn't really take much else after that to ensure it would be a fully controlled access freeway from I-10 to Hemet.

I thought there is also a project to build a freeway or a limited access expressway, connecting Hemet to the 215.

[skluth]

They also should get on the ball with planning a fully directional Y interchange at I-10. At present a few dozen buildings might be needed, but it wouldn't really receive too much NIMBY pushback like it would as if there were apartments or houses. Just buy up vacant land to prevent any new development and slowly, but surely by up existing development.

Wouldn't really take much else after that to ensure it would be a fully controlled access freeway from I-10 to Hemet.

I thought there is also a project to build a freeway or a limited access expressway, connecting Hemet to the 215.

A fully controlled access interchange would be difficult due to the current small footprint; that would consume far more land than the current interchange. A larger interchange would also create merge issues with the I-10/CA 60 interchange. It can't be a Y interchange because Beaumont Av is the main access to I-10 for central Beaumont. The current interchange is squeezed between the UP tracks and the busy Beaumont Av/5th St intersection. A relatively inexpensive solution would be a DDI as far more traffic enters and exits CA 79 from I-10 with little through traffic on Beaumont Av (as far as I've observed in my many times through this interchange). I'd also add with RIRO access for 4th St/Luis Estrada Rd with a new road under Beaumont Av (see link). But I've seen nothing indicating Caltrans looking to rebuild the interchange.

[Occidental Tourist]

This seems like the smartest solution. You're going to get pushback from the chevron and del taco, but this seems like the only financially feasible solution to fix the backups here.

I'd also advocate for removing the sixth street on-ramp to the 60 and shifting the 10 mainline to the left with a right side exit ramp for the 60 and a braided on-ramp from Beaumont Ave.

[Plutonic Panda]

I mean the best solution is a free flow ramp system but the proximity of the CA-60 junction would indeed make this a very expensive and complex endeavor needing multiple braided ramps. I'm sure it won't ever happen but it'd be nice.

[Occidental Tourist]

As an alternative to a braided ramp, you could keep the existing 60 interchange, but run the new 10 west mainline over the top of it as a bridge built in the existing median/6th street on-ramp ROW.  You could keep some of the existing 10 lanes pavement on the right hand side (with one or two lanes removed) as a right side "alt"  route to 10 for trucks and for traffic entering from Beaumont Avenue to discourage weaving.  After the new 10 mainline bridge touches down into the existing 10 footprint northwest of the 60 interchange, the remaining old 10 lane(s) could become Trani sitting into an exit only lane for Oak Valley.  You'd have to demolish part of the existing 10 west bridge over Veile to build the new mainline approach and bridge, and you'd have to pave a fourth (or fourth and fifth) lane northwest of the interchange for the exit only lane(s).  Only downside I see would be the homes immediately north of the 10 probably wouldn't like a new 20 foot high bridge carrying three lanes of traffic behind their backyards.