$3M grant moves Highland-Redlands connector trail toward construction

Plans to complete the final missing link in a five-mile bicycle and pedestrian corridor between Highland and Redlands took another step forward this month after the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority secured $3 million in clean transportation funding for the Highland-Redlands Regional Gap Connector Project.

The funding, awarded through the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee's Clean Transportation Funding program, builds on $2 million in federal funding secured earlier this year by Rep. Pete Aguilar, bringing the project's recent grant funding to $5 million.

The latest award supports construction of the Gap Connector, the final 2.85-mile segment of a regional active transportation corridor linking Citrus Valley High School in Redlands with Arroyo Verde Elementary School in Highland. Between 2016 and 2021, two pedestrians were killed, five pedestrians were injured and one bicyclist was injured along the project corridor, according to data presented to the Redlands City Council in May.

The completed corridor will include approximately five miles of Class I off-street paths and Class IV protected bicycle lanes along Orange Street and Boulder Avenue, creating a continuous route between the two cities and eventually connecting to the planned Santa Ana River Trail.

Officials say the improvements will provide a safer route for students who walk or bike to Citrus Valley High School, whose attendance boundary extends into Highland. Today, the primary connection between the communities follows Boulder Avenue and Orange Street, where bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is limited.

During an April funding announcement, Aguilar said he often thinks about those students commuting between Highland and Redlands.

"They deserve to get home at the end of each day," Aguilar said. "That's exactly what this project does."

Environmental and funding delays

The project has been in development since 2016 but stalled after environmental permitting requirements dramatically increased costs. State regulators initially required about 31 acres of habitat mitigation for the endangered San Bernardino kangaroo rat, pushing mitigation costs to an estimated $6.5 million, more than the project's original $4 million construction cost.

To keep the project alive, SBCTA restructured it in 2023 into three phases. The cities of Highland and Redlands have since completed the northern and southern segments, while SBCTA assumed responsibility for constructing the environmentally sensitive gap between them.

On May 19, the Redlands City Council approved a cooperative agreement with SBCTA to manage construction of the project at a cost not to exceed $440,396. Council members also approved a cost-sharing agreement with the City of Highland, committing up to $57,850 toward final design.

Overall, the approximately $9 million project is funded through a combination of federal, state, local and Measure I transportation sales tax dollars. Design is expected to be completed this summer, with construction scheduled to begin in early 2027.