Palm Desert
The City of Palm Desert will host the San Pablo Grand Opening and Street Party on Saturday, October 23 from 5 – 9 p.m. to celebrate the completion of the San Pablo improvements and the opening of a major Palm Desert segment of CV Link. The event will happen on San Pablo Avenue on the newly completed section north of Fred Waring Drive. The street will be closed to vehicles for the event, and, in the spirit of the evening, residents are encouraged to travel to the celebration by foot, bike, or golf cart when possible. Parking is available at Civic Center Park for those who wish to come by car.
The evening’s festivities include a ribbon cutting to mark the official opening of both the San Pablo Avenue and CV Link projects. The event will also feature live music, food trucks offering up a variety of meals to purchase, a beer garden, fresh fruit, and vegetable vendors, and local artisans. Desert Recreation District will be on hand with activities for youngsters at their Kids Zone sponsored by the Berger Foundation.
The City’s eagerly anticipated transformation of San Pablo Avenue is complete, with work wrapped up on Phase 2 of the project and the re-envisioned street again open to vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. Phase 2 improvements focused on San Pablo between Fred Waring Drive and Magnesia Falls Drive, including the construction of two new roundabouts, one at Magnesia Falls and one at the entrance to the College of the Desert.
Additional project features include enhanced pedestrian walkways, new landscaping, and sidewalks, improved lighting, on-street parking, raised mid-block pedestrian crosswalks, new bikeways, and traffic signal improvements.
These improvements complement the reinvention of San Pablo between Highway 111 and Fred Waring accomplished in Phase 1. It also creates a critical connection for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists from Highway 111 to CV Link, the more than 40-mile pathway that will provide a safe and active alternative route across the entire Coachella Valley.
Construction work on Palm Desert’s section of CV Link was concurrent with the San Pablo streetscape improvements. A significant section of the bikeway—from the Bump & Grind trailhead on Painters Path across Parkview Avenue and Magnesia Falls Drive—is now complete.
Design is underway for Palm Desert’s next section of CV Link, which will run east and west along the Whitewater River Channel past Palm Desert High School and Cook Street to the Indian Wells border. From there, a northbound leg will connect to Hovley Lane East.