Crews were making great progress laying the asphalt for the temporary bypass road on Cathedral Canyon Drive at the Whitewater River. The bypass road is needed to allow traffic to flow north and south as construction begins to build a new bridge over the Wash that floods when large amounts of rainfall happens in a short amount of time.
The purpose of the project is to improve safety on Cathedral Canyon Drive by replacement of an existing 4-lane low water crossing with a new 4-lane all-weather bridge, approximately 599 feet long, over the Whitewater River. During heavy rains, this low water crossing becomes impassable and is closed to through traffic, severing one of only two North/South connections between Cathedral City’s downtown and the many residential and commercial neighborhoods north of the Whitewater River.
The proposed new bridge will be constructed to fit within the existing 88 feet of City right-of-way to accommodate a raised center median, the proposed roadway improvements will extend approximately from Paseo Azulejo in the south to Canyon Shores Drive in the north.
A new website, http://cathedralcanyondrive.com, has been developed to keep you informed of the progress. The website will soon have a portal camera to show LIVE video of the construction work.
