The Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) has taken its biggest step forward in the construction of CVLink as the Executive and Transportation Committee authorized CVAG Executive Director Tom Kirk to finalize construction contracts with Ames Construction, Inc. valued at $52.733 million. Contracts were also authorized for Alta Planning & Design and Terra Nova Planning and Research.
Based on the agreements, CVAG projects that construction could begin in December for 20 miles of new pathway for CVLink, a cross-valley pathway for walkers/runners, cyclists and small electric vehicle operators. When completed, CVLink will span 40 miles through most of the valley’s cities.
To date, 3.5 miles of CVLink has been built in Cathedral City and Palm Springs. The city of Palm Desert is leading the construction of an additional 3.5 miles of CVLink within the city.
The new construction would include approximately 13.5 miles of CVLink in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indio and Coachella as well as unincorporated Riverside County.
“This has been a long time coming and construction of this magnitude frankly couldn’t come at a better time,” CVAG Executive Director Tom Kirk said. “The COVID-19 crisis has really shown us how vital it is for a community to have access to safe routes for walking, biking or riding in low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles. CV Link, and active transportation projects like it are wide enough to allow for social distancing while encouraging people stay active and stay healthy.”
CVAG hopes that the project will also provide the valley with much needed jobs during these tough times. The organization cited the Congressional Budget Office, which estimated that every dollar spent on infrastructure produced an economic benefit of up to $2.20. In addition, the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers calculated that $1 billion of transportation infrastructure investment supports 13,000 jobs for a year. In total, CVAG calculates that the $52.7 million investment will produce an economic benefit of over $116 million, and support more than 685 jobs for a year.
“CV Link fulfills a decade-long vision to connect the Coachella Valley with a hiking and biking path,” Kirk said. “This will undoubtedly be our single largest phase of construction, and we couldn’t have gotten to this point without the support of so many stakeholders here and across the state.”
For more on CV Link, visit www.coachellavalleylink.com.
