Granite inks $88M deal to pave, widen SoCal highway

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Award: SR-74 safety enhancements
Value: $88 million
Location: Near Lake Elsinore, California
Client: California DOT

Granite Construction has inked an $88 million contract to improve a stretch of winding, mountainous highway in Southern California. 

The Watsonville, California-based contractor announced the award from the California DOT on Jan. 23 to make safety enhancements on State Route 74 near the city of Lake Elsinore. 

Project funding comes from both state and federal sources, Granite said in the news release, and its scope includes widening the shoulders and roadway while making room for centerline and edge line rumble strips to improve safety on the two-lane road. The effort aims to provide more vehicle buffer space. 

The project continues the contractor’s previous work on the roadway. In 2020, Granite won a $39 million contract to widen shoulders and shore up curve elevations between Lake Elsinore and the Orange County line. 

“We have been working closely with Caltrans on this highway for several years, and we are excited to continue this partnership,” said Bill Moore, Granite’s vice president of regional operations, in the release. “It aligns with our strategic goal of expanding our footprint in the Inland Empire of Southern California.”

Also known as the Ortega Highway, the full road stretches from I-5 on California’s Pacific Coast near San Juan Capistrano to Palm Desert, California, in the state’s eastern interior. 

The section of the thoroughfare Granite will work on in this project winds through the Santa Ana Mountains. The highway traverses a hairpin turn that opens up to views of Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, home to tens of thousands of commuters who roll down the hill daily to jobs in Orange County. 

Granite will also perform resurfacing on the highway, building on its past work in the area. It expects to begin construction in April, with a projected completion date of November 2026.