Officials Celebrate Completion of $25.6 Million University Parkway Interchange at CSUSB
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San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran and Rick Denison, president of the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, celebrate the completion of the I-215 University Parkway diverging diamond interchange project at Cal State University San Bernardino, Friday, May 1. Photo by Christopher Salazar.
A long-anticipated overhaul of the University Parkway I-215 interchange was formally dedicated Friday, May 1, with officials celebrating the milestone at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the John M. Pfau Library lawn at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB). The $25.6 million venture, spearheaded by the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), Caltrans District 8 and the city of San Bernardino, will now ease congestion flowing to and from the campus and the surrounding area.
The newly completed project, which began in November 2024 and sits roughly one mile from CSUSB, reconfigured the interchange into a diverging diamond design, becoming the first of its kind in Southern California. For residents, students and professionals, the improvement marks the end of a familiar sight: drivers snarled up along the busy University Parkway corridor in San Bernardino.
As the morning overcast cleared, university leaders joined city, county and state officials in celebrating the project’s conclusion, highlighting regional partnerships and the importance of Measure I — San Bernardino County’s half-cent sales tax allocated for transportation upgrades — which provided $16.4 million in funding for the undertaking.
“Openings like this are about more than just concrete and steel,” said San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran. “We are building smarter, safer and more efficient ways to move people through our city, and projects like this create stronger connections across our region.”
Unlike traditional interchanges, the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) design temporarily shifts traffic to the opposite side of the road, allowing for more efficient left turns onto freeway onramps without widening existing roadways, according to Tim Watkins, SBCTA chief of legislative and public affairs.
“We literally move traffic to the opposite direction that it normally flows, so that there’s a free left turn movement onto the freeway that clears the interchange much faster, allowing for more cars to get through the system more effectively,” said Watkins, a CSUSB alum. “By being more creative on how we move traffic, instead of creating more lanes to do it, we can be effective without disrupting the overall community.”
For Aaron Torres, a marketing student at CSUSB, the gridlocked tract near the freeway was a consistent inconvenience.
“The traffic here is just terrible,” Torres said. “So when I heard about this new intersection happening, it was just a godsend, because I’ve been late to class too many times.”
With the DDI complete and open to drivers since March 1, traffic en route to class, the freeway or nearby businesses is no longer the bane of his commute.
“Honestly, it already feels like a world of difference,” Torres said.
