State Route 71 (SR 71) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

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. Serving

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, San Bernardino, and

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counties, it runs from SR 91 in Corona to the Kellogg Interchange with

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

and SR 57 on the border of

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and San Dimas. The segment from SR 91 to SR 83 in

Chino Hills The Chino Hills are a mountain range on the border of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties, California, with a small portion in Riverside County. The Chino Hills State Park preserves open space and habitat in them. Geography The C ...

is called the Corona Freeway, formerly the Corona Expressway and before then the Temescal Freeway. SR 71 is designated as the Chino Valley Freeway between SR 83 and the Kellogg Interchange.

Route description

Beginning at its southern terminus, SR 91 in Corona, SR 71 is an expressway for a half-mile when it intersects with Pomona Rincon Road. After this intersection, SR 71 becomes a freeway up to Rio Rancho Road before reverting to an expressway up to Mission Boulevard. (previously, it was an expressway until its northern terminus, but this segment was upgraded to a freeway in 2012.) The route becomes a short freeway for about a mile until it meets at the Kellogg Interchange in San Dimas, where it terminates at

and SR 57. As of December 2016, all traffic signals were removed. Traffic entering and exiting the roads that lead into the nearby neighborhoods (North Ranch Road, Old Pomona Road, and Phillips Drive) may no longer enter or exit northbound due to added barriers in the highway's median. However, until 2021, southbound traffic could use these streets. (North Ranch Road, Old Pomona Road, and Phillips Drive can enter the highway via a

stop sign A stop sign is a traffic sign designed to notify drivers that they must come to a complete stop and make sure the intersection is safely clear of vehicles and pedestrians before continuing past the sign. In many countries, the sign is a red oc ...

.) These streets have been completely closed to southbound access as of 2021. Just south of the Mission Boulevard exit, all aspects of the highway, such as its alignment, lane width, pavement, barriers, and access, 'upgrade' to freeway standards. The section of the highway between Corona and Chino is notorious for thick winter fogs at dawn and dusk, resulting in many automobile collisions when drivers fail to slow down due to reduced visibility. Residents of Los Serranos (now

) recall being awakened by sounds of crinkling bumpers, fenders, and headlights. As this freeway/expressway serves as an important northwest-southeast corridor between the cities in the Pomona and San Gabriel valleys (eastern

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) and the cities of western Riverside County, it is heavily traveled. It is used as an alternative to SR 57 (the Orange Freeway) situated to the west and

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(the Ontario Freeway) located to the east. When the route runs through

and Chino, there is a high-occupancy vehicle lane available for use; however, this carpool lane ends when the route enters Riverside County (to the south) and

(to the north). The route is a four-lane highway between SR 91 and Central Avenue (excluding HOV lanes), a six-lane highway (excluding HOV lanes) from Central Avenue to SR 60, and again a four-lane highway from SR 60 to I-10/SR 57. SR 71 is part of the

California Freeway and Expressway System The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses both State highways and federal highways in California. It is defined by Article 2 (commenci ...

, and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

. SR 71 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System; however, it is not designated as a scenic highway by Caltrans. CA 71 north of Corona

History

The original routing of SR 71, according to the 1934 listing, was from US 80 (now I-8), in

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north to US 66 (now SR 66), near Claremont via Lake Elsinore and Temecula. When the portion between San Diego and Temecula was redesignated US 395, SR 71 was rerouted to run from Pomona to Aguanga. In 1973, it was cut back to its present terminus in Corona, with the portion between Corona and Temecula becoming

and the portion between Temecula and Aguanga becoming SR 79 and SR 371. The early section of the Chino Valley Freeway was built in 1971 from the Kellogg Interchange to SR 60 (the Pomona Freeway). The section from SR 60 to SR 91 (the Riverside Freeway) was completed in March 1998. In September 2008, construction began on the Mission 71 Project in Pomona. A bridge was constructed to allow Mission Boulevard to pass over SR 71, which now has entrance and exit ramps to Mission. Also, the intersection with Ninth Street was closed. The freeway was extended south to the former intersection at Ninth Street, where it resumes expressway status to the intersection with Old Pomona Road. The construction project was completed in December 2011.

Future

The City of Pomona is currently working with Caltrans to convert the rest of SR 71 within its borders from its current status as a four-lane expressway to a full eight-lane freeway. This project is underway and is expected to be fully complete by 2027. Additionally, the

Riverside County Transportation Commission The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) is the County Transportation Commission (a subdivision of the six-county Southern California Association of Governments metropolitan planning organization) for Riverside County, California, ...

plans to construct a two-lane flyover ramp between eastbound SR 91 and northbound SR 71 to replace the current one-lane loop ramp.

Exit list

References

External links