R M INSIDER Winter 2016 / Official publication of the City of RANCHO MIRAGE, California The Controversial CV Link: Visionary or Boondoggle? Multipurpose trail would link desert cities, but building and upkeep might not be as seamless. magine a hiking and biking path extending from one end (NEVs) were added to the mix and with that, the Iof the sun-drenched Coachella Valley to the other. Sounds cost rose exponentially because you have to change wonderful, doesn’t it? The concept ties in with the ongoing the composition of the roadways so as to comport emphasis on health and wellness, and environmentally, it with California requirements. From that point on, makes good sense, too. I felt the project was not in the best interests of the It has never been a one-size-fits-all undertaking by any communities, in particular the community I have an means, so it’s wise not to get caught up in the hype. It’s obligation to serve — Rancho Mirage. The increased better to first stop and consider the implications a project cost, taken in conjunction with projected operation of such scope would have on individual cities. The City and maintenance [O&M] expenses, caused me of Rancho Mirage has done just that, and in keeping with great concern.” its fiscally responsible reputation, identified and voiced CV Link started as a brainchild of Riverside some real concerns over the CV Link’s economic impact on County Supervisor John Benoit and Coachella Valley our community. Association of Governments (CVAG) Executive Director Tom Kirk, who were looking for creative ways to secure History of CV Link some of the $50-plus million in air pollution mitigation In the beginning, if anyone had heard of the proposed funds they knew were coming to the region. project at all, they knew it as Whitewater River Bike Path, a name that eventually morphed into CV Link. With a price Use of Measure A Funds tag that ultimately grew to $100 million, the notion sounded Another source of funding that CV Link hopes to promising but not too likely to happen. Initially, the City of appropriate is the regional sales tax fund known as Rancho Mirage was supportive of the concept. As a city that Measure A. The tax, which amounts to a half cent per prides itself on always being at the forefront of establishing dollar spent, was approved by voters in 1988 with the and sponsoring recreational services that appeal to intent it be applied to crumbling roads and bridges residents and visitors, naturally it would welcome ideas that sorely in need of repair and maintenance. At the time, promised to do the same. CV Link wasn’t on the voters’ radar. “My original understanding of this project was that it It’s no secret that Riverside County’s transportation was going to be a bike and jogging path,” Mayor G. Dana system is woefully underfunded. Benoit himself Hobart says. “Over time neighborhood electric vehicles contributed to a Press Enterprise article dated THINKSTOCKPHOTOS.COM 2 | Winter 2016 / Rancho Mirage INSIDER August 21, 2015, which stated that roads committed to construction of the CV Link, on the paved roadway reserved for NEVs in Riverside County rank as some of the whose first phase is supposed to begin in and bicycles. worst in the nation. The other primary 2017. CVAG has also identified $600,000 “CV Link has grown to encompass a source of local transportation system per year in additional Measure A funds for 14-foot-wide NEV/bike path, a separate funding is a tax applied to gas purchases. maintenance, accompanied by a 2 percent 6- to 8-foot-wide pedestrian path, solar This year, however, every city in Riverside annual increase. structures, charging stations, restrooms County has seen a decrease of 25 percent “We’re lucky in Riverside County,” says — it’s now this huge facility, which is why in that regard due to the decreasing price Isaiah Hagerman, City Administrative it’ll cost $100 million,” Hagerman adds. of gasoline, the increasing efficiency of Services Director. “Our voters passed “If it were a walking-hiking-biking trail in cars, and the great strides made in hybrids this special tax — Measure A — for keeping with the original concept, the cost and plug-in vehicles. transportation. Yet even if we ignore would be so much less and there’d be no It’s been proposed that Measure A the bigger picture of the transportation need to resort to sources like Measure A funds totaling up to $20 million be system being completely underfunded, for funding.” CVAG has already identified $3 billion in roadway projects waiting for this funding. Operation and Maintenance Costs CVAG is nevertheless determined to Fast forward through all the CV Link ballot measures divert those Measure A funds away from conceptualizing and planning of CV Link to that the Rancho Mirage the identified streets and road projects March 2015, when CVAG published a report electorate will be asked and in favor of a no-expense-spared CV that put forth the idea of taking the city’s to vote on in the April Link. I think it’s fiscally irresponsible to Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) dollars use our limited transportation funding in to fund operation and maintenance of the 2016 election are posted this manner.” trail. The overall fi gure for O&M costs on the city’s website at has been pegged at $1.6 million annually www.RanchoMirageCA.gov. Electric Vehicles with an annual two percent for infl ation Ballot measures can be Adding NEVs to the equation is primarily factored in. Six hundred thousand of that what boosted the CV Link sticker price to amount has been earmarked for rangers found on the city’s homepage $100 million. NEVs — not to be confused to police the trail, although there has been by clicking on “CV Link & with traditional golf carts — require a some discussion about eliminating that City of Rancho Mirage” at paved path that is completely separate particular form of law enforcement as a the top of the page. This will from pedestrians. According to CVAG’s cost-saving measure. Should that come to Neighborhood Electrical Vehicle Plan, pass, other concerns about public safety connect you to the ballot there are 440 local NEVs registered would arise. measures as well as a great with the DMV in the Coachella Valley. “The 8 percent TOT plan was deal of additional information It’s noteworthy that walkers, joggers, mentioned in a CVAG staff report dated about the CV Link. and stroller-pushing pedestrians will be April 6, 2015, and there was a section relegated to a sideline decomposed granite that showed what each city would pay path and will not be permitted to traverse over a nine-year period,” Hobart says. “It would have placed over 90 percent of CV LINK AND THE CITY the entire O&M budget for the next 75 Residents can learn more about the city’s concerns regarding the proposed CV Link project by watching RMTV years — based on TOT income — on five any day of the week at 8 a.m., 2 p.m., 8 p.m., and 2 a.m. An hour-long roundtable discussion between the Mayor, cities, including Rancho Mirage. What the Mayor Pro Tem, the City Manager, and others will help viewers understand the challenges the city faces. happens if a city that says they’ll join and RMTV can be found on your cable television at Channel 17. The roundtable discussion can also be viewed on the city’s website at www.RanchoMirageCA.gov, at any time pay changes their mind in one or five or 10 of the day or night. A link to the video can be found at the top of the home page of the city’s website. years? Who then picks up the load? What Winter 2016 / Rancho Mirage INSIDER | 3 happens if a city goes bankrupt during that period of time? There are innumerable unaddressed questions concerning the My original understanding of this project was financing of this project.” that it was going to be a bike and jogging path. The Route “Over time neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) CV Link’s planned route through a number of valley cities hugs the lip were added to the mix and with that, the cost rose of the Whitewater Wash fairly closely. In Rancho Mirage, however, the trail is exponentially because you have to change the slated to cross Highway 111 at two points, composition of the roadways so as to comport with possibly even three. This would wreak havoc with traffic signal synchronization, California requirements. From that point on, I felt the in which the city has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain vehicle project was not in the best interests of the communities, flow. “There’s a huge air quality impact in particular the community I have an obligation to if you stop traffic unnecessarily,” Hobart adds. “Vehicles are idling, then they have serve — Rancho Mirage. The increased cost, taken in to get back up to traveling speed — and the act of speeding up uses the most gas conjunction with projected operation and maintenance and emits the most pollutants.” [O&M] expenses, caused me great concern. At one point, the proposed CV Link route passes right in front of – Mayor G. Dana Hobart the Rancho Mirage fire station on Highway 111, complicating matters for our first responders hoping to speedily From a financial standpoint, safety the area would probably view it” as a exit as they respond to emergency calls.