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CALIFORNIA STATE EDITION

Interstate 15 (I-15) is a north-south highway that runs be tween San Diego and Sweet Grass, Mont., on the Canadian border.

The 1,400-mi.-long I-15 passes through San Bernardino County, which is 50 mi. due east of Los Angeles, and the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), along with the joint venture Skanska and Coffman Specialties, is working on a long stretch of it to enhance area traffic flow.

Significant Congestion

The average daily traffic in the project area tops 220,000 vehicles. The project area is near three major highways: State Route 60, Interstate 10, and State Route 210.

At each crossing of the major highways and I-15, there is significant congestion. It’s particularly slow going at the I-15 / I-10 interchange. That’s no surprise since half of the inter state truck traffic traveling in and out of Southern California passes through the interchange. The route serves as a connec tor between Las Vegas and Southern California.

The SBCTA said, “Interstate 15 (I-15) is an economic

Additional Express Lanes

The project area runs for just under 11 mi. The team is adding two express lanes in both directions for a total of 8

lifeline connecting San Bernardino County and the nation.”

Skanska and the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority are leading a massive upgrade to Interstate 15.

Calif., Tribes Break Ground for Indian Heritage Center

Following the California Tribal Nations Summit, Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced on April 14, 2026, the groundbreaking of the first phase of the California Indian Heritage Center (CIHC).

The project advanced with a $100 million state investment in the governor’s 2018 to 2019 budget. The state retained Fentress Architects and Amaktoolik Studios to design and build the center and set a goal to raise an additional $100 million for future phases.

Newsom met with tribal leaders at the summit, and afterward, Siebel Newsom joined more than 50 tribal, state and local leaders to mark the groundbreaking.

For almost eight years, I have had the honor of working with and learning from California Native American tribes across the state to recognize past wrongs, address them where possible, and establish new systems resources and initiatives to help native communities thrive,” Newsom said. “The California Indian Heritage Center will be a longstanding part of this work, teaching generations yet to come about one of the fundamental parts of the state’s heritage.”

The center will be located on a 51-acre property at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers in West Sacramento.

Expected to be completed in the fall of 2026, phase one will create an outdoor welcome area with cultural and educational information, amphitheater-style seating, restrooms and parking to welcome tribal and nontribal communities. The area offers a space for all to enjoy the outdoors, as they reflect on the diversity, stewardship, expertise, and cultures of California tribes — first and original stewards of this land.

Officials break ground on April 14, 2026, on the California Indian

finally say that we are following through on a commitment to honor the first people of this place,” said Tribal Affairs Secretary Christina Snider-Ashtari. “Having a place where all California native people can see that they are genuinely celebrated and belong as the foundational people of this state is worth the time and effort it has taken to get here.”

Center.

across the globe to engage with and celebrate the living cultures of California Native American tribes. Tribes have shaped the center’s design and future programming through ongoing consultation and community outreach, developing a statewide center for cultural preservation, learning and land stewardship rooted in Native American values. 

SDCCD Board Approves Mid-City Campus Project Team

The San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees unanimously on May 14, 2026, approved the selection of the design-build team of Hensel Phelps and Carrier Johnson + Culture to lead development of the new Mid-City Campus project for the San Diego College of Continuing Education.

Funded through the voter-approved Measure HH bond program, the new campus is estimated at approximately $100 million, including land acquisition, planning, design, construction and furnishing and equipping the facility.

The board’s initial approval for $7.9M to begin Phase 1 work marks a major milestone in the district’s efforts to expand educational access and workforce training opportunities in San Diego’s Mid-City communities. The new campus at 5322 El Cajon Blvd. will allow for the expansion of impacted and in-demand programs housed at the Mid-City Campus, including nursing, business information technology, emeritus and culinary arts.

shape one of the district’s newest educational facilities. Through the progressive design-build process, the selected team will work collaboratively with SDCCE leadership, faculty, staff, stakeholders and the surrounding community to help guide programming, design and future development of the campus.

The project is funded through Measure HH, the voter-approved $3.5 billion bond program approved by San Diego voters in November 2024 to modernize district facilities, expand workforce training opportunities, and improve educational infrastructure across SDCCD campuses.

“This project reflects the district’s continued commitment to educational access, workforce development, and community investment,” said Chancellor Gregory A. Smith. “The new CE campus will create opportunities for students seeking career advancement, lifelong learning, and pathways to economic mobility while helping strengthen the workforce pipeline that supports San Diego’s future economy.”

Thirteen design-build teams submitted proposals for the highly competitive project, reflecting strong industry interest in helping

“This new campus represents an exciting investment in the future of our students and community,” said Tina M. King, president of the San Diego College of Continuing Education. “For generations, SDCCE has helped students gain the skills, confidence and education needed to transform their lives. This new campus will allow us to expand those opportunities through modern learning environments and career-focused programs designed to meet the evolving needs of our region.”

Planning and design activities are expected to begin immediately, with stakeholder engagement and programming efforts helping shape the future campus vision. 

Office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom photo

Heritage

San Diego Community College District map

The new campus at 5322 El Cajon Blvd. will allow for the expansion of impacted and in-demand programs housed at the Mid-City Campus.

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Fish, Wildlife Mandates Impact Timing for Bridge Work

Straightforward But Big

Gutierrez describes the project as standard, just big.

“The staging on the project is pretty simple,” he said. “We push traffic to the inside. We widen the outside in both directions. Then, once the outside is complete, we push traffic to the outside and build the inside.”

What isn’t simple is the amount of structural work, along with all the roadway work needed to complete the outside widenings.

Another challenge: maintaining the pace of construction to meet the schedule.

“We basically had to open up the whole job and work everywhere at once,” Gutierrez said.

Maintaining the pace is complicated by the fact that one of the bridges is over an existing flood-control channel. The scope calls for widening the two outer sides and one inner side.

Due to fish and wildlife protection mandates, the team is only allowed to work from April 15 through Oct. 15.

Gutierrez explains what the team did to ensure the bridgework would fit into the schedule.

“When we started the project, we did all the substructure for that bridge, including for stage two, so that we wouldn’t have to go back in the channel because we don’t want to wait till next season to go back in and tear out throughout the channel and build the next substructure for the bridge,” he said. “During our first season, when we could work in the channel, we worked overtime and double shifts to complete all the work.”

Another scheduling issue: three of the bridges the team is widening are over railroads. Two belong to Union Pacific, and one belongs to Metrolink.

“Working with the railroads requires coordinating with them to ensure we get the work done in the windows of time

The project area runs for just under 11 mi. and the Skanska team is adding two express lanes in both direc tions for a total of 8 mi.

from one side of the freeway to the other,” Gutierrez said. “We’ve been potholing up to 90 feet deep to locate and pos itively identify the line prior to proceeding with the bridge construction in the area.”

The area poses a safety challenge for the team. The team is performing significant night work to avoid interfering with the shopping areas at the north end of the project. The area also includes multiple restaurants and bars.

“On the weekends and Fridays, there’s lots of drunk drivers through the areas,” Gutierrez said. “Our guys noticed that on Friday nights, there was more drunk driving and people running through our lane closures.”

The team switched the schedule to avoid Friday nights

lanes are expected to open to traffic in August 2028. The team must complete the work four months prior and turn it over to the Tolling Service Provider, so they can input what they need to get the road ready. The project is on schedule. Gutierrez attributes the team’s on-time, on-schedule performance to the preplanning it did and the constant communication between the teams.

Another key to the partnership between the joint venture and SBCTA: “We’re really partnering with each other to keep the project moving, not pointing fingers, and treating the problems as our own,” Gutierrez said.  CEG

(All photos courtesy of Skanska.)