Who Fixes the Freeway? RCTC, Traffic Relief, Toll Lanes & Calimesa’s I-10 Future

Who Fixes the Freeway? RCTC, Traffic Relief, Toll Lanes & Calimesa’s I-10 Future

From Calimesa Insider by City of Calimesa

May 29, 2026 · 46 min · Episode 72

About this episode

The episode discusses the responsibilities and challenges of managing traffic on major highways in Riverside County with insights from the Executive Director of RCTC.

Who is actually responsible for fixing traffic on I-10, I-15, SR-91, and other major corridors in Riverside County?In this episode of Calimesa Insider, Will Kolbow sits down with Aaron Hake, Executive Director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission, to talk about what RCTC does, how transportation projects are funded, why local dollars matter, and why freeway projects can take so long.The conversation also covers the Traffic Relief Plan, the I-15 Smart Freeway Pilot Project in Temecula, express lanes and toll lane misconceptions, Measure A, Freeway Service Patrol, and the connection between transportation planning and habitat conservation through the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority and the MSHCP.For Calimesa and the San Gorgonio Pass, this episode also looks at why I-10 matters, what it takes to deliver interchange projects, and how small cities can make regional transportation priorities more competitive.Learn more:rctc.orgtrafficreliefplan.org

People in this episode

Host: Will Kolbow

Guest: Aaron Hake

Topics covered

  • traffic management
  • transportation funding
  • freeway projects
  • local government
  • environmental conservation
  • regional planning

Keywords

  • RCTC
  • traffic relief
  • toll lanes
  • Measure A
  • freeway service patrol
  • interchange projects
  • transportation planning
  • habitat conservation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Riverside County Transportation Commission, Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority, MSHCP

Places: Calimesa, Temecula, San Gorgonio Pass, Riverside County, I-10, I-15, SR-91

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