If you should have to travel from one side of the Coachella Valley to the other this time of year, you are, and this is a technical term, fucked. Highway 111 is the worst and not just because of all of those from out of state who decide suddenly to change lanes without signaling. No, what really makes traffic awful are the million freakin’ traffic signals that, in some spots, seem to exist simply because there was space to put one. And now, just as several desert cities are trying to do something about it, Rancho Mirage (it’s always fucking Rancho Mirage) has decided it wants no part. Because of course.
Via The Desert Sun:
First it was the CV Link, now Rancho Mirage is saying “no” to the traffic signal synchronization project that includes every other city in the valley. CVAG officials say Rancho Mirage’s non-participation creates a problematic hole in the system, while city officials say they want sole control over their city’s traffic lights.
Rancho Mirage claims they are not comfortable surrendering all control of the city’s traffic signals to CVAG, for some reason, and now Erica Felci, CVAG Governments Project Manager, seems kind of fed up with the city for refusing to be a part of, well, just about everything.
“(Rancho Mirage) slashed the amount of funding they historically provided to CVAG-led homelessness programs. They chose to partner with a city in Los Angeles County, rather than their own neighbors, on community choice aggregation. And they have dismissed CVAG’s repeated offers to find compromises on regional transportation projects,” Felci told the newspaper. “Ultimately, it’s the residents across the valley who lose out, because regional projects are most effective when everyone participates.”
A reminder, Rancho Mirage has an election coming up in April and maybe something will change. Then again, the city has an election in the spring (conveniently when the snow birds are around, instead of the fall like every other city in the Coachella Valley ) and allows people to vote by mail – so maybe, just maybe, the best interests of people who actually live full time in the city are not really being represented by those who are elected.
But I guess that can be debated in the city’s multiple Facebook groups.
