Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, Desert Center
Riverside County, CA
Desert Sunlight Holdings, LLC (Sunlight) constructed and now operates a 550-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) energy-generating project known as the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm. The facility is located on over 4,000 acres of land administered by the US Department of Interior (DOI), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) near Desert Center in eastern Riverside County. The Project included the development of a 500- to 220-kV substation (Red Bluff Substation), where the PV generating facility interconnects with the Southern California Edison (SCE) regional transmission system.
Prior to construction, HKA was selected to conduct a traffic study to include a forecast and analysis of the construction traffic impacts at the farm and the off-site substation. Construction impacts were analyzed as the area was isolated so there were only one or two ways to access the site by numerous construction workers.
The alternatives selected required analysis of two routes to fully document the traffic impacts anticipated. Both alternatives required coordination with Caltrans and the County of Riverside.