The City Council approved a $1.54 million construction contract Tuesday for safety improvements on Mission Inn Avenue. The project is one of several infrastructure investments underway in the corridor — just to the north, construction is set to begin this spring on a replacement for the 67-year-old Mission Boulevard Bridge.
The project will construct a raised median and apply a high-friction surface treatment on Mission Inn Avenue between Scout Lane and Redwood Drive — the same stretch where the city approved a 12-month pilot project in December 2024to reduce cut-through traffic by restricting southbound entry from University Avenue.
The work stems directly from the city's Local Road Safety Plan, which identified the corridor as a collision priority. The improvements are expected to reduce head-on collisions and collisions with fixed objects in that stretch of Mission Inn Avenue.
Funding comes from the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program and Measure A funds. Of the total project cost — estimated at $1.765 million including engineering, inspection, and administration — $1.588 million comes from the federal grant, with the remainder covered by Measure A.
The council also authorized up to $150,000 in contingency funds. The item passed as part of the consent calendar with no separate discussion.
City Council meets Tuesday with $1.8 million in spending approvals and a Fire Department defensible space discussion. The Planning Commission will consider revoking a Downtown bar's permits after repeated code violations and emergency calls.
Riverside's annual planning session revealed big ambitions — and council frustration over homelessness, fire staffing and uneven investment across the city.
The committee's vote sends both bans to the full City Council, putting Riverside ahead of state lawmakers who failed to pass kratom regulations last year.
