Caltrans and the Riverside County Transportation Commission are planning to expand the capacity of 15 Freeway from Corona through the city of Lake Elsinore. The I-15 Express Lanes Project Southern Extension (ELPSE) would add four to five new lanes to the existing six-lane freeway. Added capacity would include over 60 miles of new toll lanes – two lanes in each direction – plus one additional un-tolled southbound lane through three miles of Lake Elsinore.
The project is located near the western edge of Riverside County, next to Orange County, and about fifty miles east of central Los Angeles.
The project design was approved via a 2024 Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
The 15 Freeway is currently six lanes – three general purpose lanes in each direction in that area. The project would add 60+ new freeway lane-miles, expanding the facility to ten lanes: two toll lanes and three general purpose lanes in each direction. In Lake Elsinore – from Nichols Road to Main Street – the ELPSE project would add an additional southbound auxiliary lane – bringing the total to eleven lanes just south of Nichols.
Added lanes would be located in the existing 70-foot wide freeway median, so the project does not include any property acquisitions. The $550-650 million project includes widening 15 bridges, and adding express lane on- and off-ramps, sound walls, toll collection equipment, signage, and more…