A "transformative" bike and pedestrian line that would extend across eastern Coachella Valley cities is on the verge of getting $36 million in state money, valley officials announced Friday.
The Arts and Music Line, coordinated by the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, is set to run along Avenue 48 through La Quinta, Indio and Coachella.
Spurs would connect it to the CV Link and to the Empire Polo Club, home of the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals.
"This is a huge win for the Coachella Valley, tourism and the festivals," said Paul Tollett, CEO of Goldenvoice, which runs the festivals.
Goldenvoice partners with the Los Angeles environmental nonprofit Global Inheritance on promoting carpooling and ways of getting to the festivals without cars. Eric Ritz, founder of Global Inheritance, said funding for a bike-pedestrian lane that's accessible to festivalgoers would be "fantastic."
"Ultimately, we want people to consider what they can to limit their environmental impact with the festival experience through carpooling or biking, and all those things help," Ritz said.
If the California Transportation Commission approves its staff's recommendation, the funding will be the largest award presented to the valley area in the history of the state’s competitive Active Transportation Program. The line has an estimated total cost of $46 million, and CVAG said local and regional funding will cover the rest. The commission meets Dec. 7 and 8.
The line is one of 67 projects in California the transportation commission staff has recommended be funded, for a total of $854 million.
The concept of an art and music line to connect the CV Link and the festival grounds to La Quinta, Indio and Coachella has been around since at least 2018.
So far, the cities have funded the planning, design and engineering. CVAG will contribute most of the regional share using money it gets from the Measure A county sales tax, said Erica Felci, the assistant director of CVAG.
The route is set to include bold color schemes, new lighting and artwork. It would run from Washington Street in La Quinta through all three cities to near the Spotlight 29 casino just outside Coachella.
“This is a huge victory for the Coachella Valley, especially the residents and visitors of Coachella, Indio and La Quinta who choose to lace up their sneakers or ride their bikes,” Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez, who is chairman of CVAG’s Transportation and Executive Committees, said in a statement.
“Our region has worked for years to make improvements in our biking and walking network, and we have been at the forefront of innovation. The Arts and Music Line will take the Coachella Valley’s active transportation network to a new level,” he added.
Eliana Perez covers the eastern Coachella Valley. Reach her at eliana.perez@thedesertsun.com or on Twitter @ElianaPress. Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. Reach him at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter @bblueskye.
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