If you drove on an Inland freeway, rode Metrolink’s Perris Valley Line or stopped at a local 7-Eleven, you know Joe Tavaglione’s work.
Now, the nexus of the 60, 91 and 215 freeways in Riverside — a project he saved and an example of how the billions of dollars in state funding he secured got spent — will bear his name.
The California State Legislature last month renamed the 60/91/215 interchange in honor of Tavaglione, who died Aug. 1 at the age of 101 after a public service career that helped the Inland Empire grow from a rural landscape of citrus groves to a home for than 4 million people.
Part of Riverside’s prominent Tavaglione family, Joe Tavaglione served more than 20 years on the California Transportation Commission — the state’s main transportation planning panel — under four governors from both major parties. He remained on the commission past his 100th birthday before retiring July 1.
“Joe Tavaglione was the very definition of a pioneer, beginning in the post World War II era, his vision for a burgeoning and thriving Inland Southern California, shaped our region in ways that seemed unfathomable at the time,” state Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, who sponsored the resolution to rename the interchange, said in a news release.
Tavaglione “was a tireless advocate for investing in the Inland Empire,” said Anne Mayer, the retired executive director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission.
“He was relentless in making sure that his colleagues on the (state commission), who were from all over the state, understood” the region, she said, adding he’d invite them to the Inland Empire and take them up in helicopters to point out pressing infrastructure needs.
As a commissioner, Tavaglione directed money for projects throughout California. Locally, he steered hundreds of millions of dollars to build railroad grade separations and interchanges, widen and improve the 215, 60, 91 and 15 freeways and build the Perris Valley Line extension of Metrolink train service.
Joe Tavaglione, right, talks with then-fellow California Transportation Commission member Kirk Lindsey during a 2007 tour of work being done at the 60 and 215 freeways. The 60/91/215 interchange is being renamed for Tavaglione, who died in August 2024 at age 101. (File photo by Kurt Miller, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Before joining the commission, Tavaglione and his brother, Louis, founded a construction company that built hundreds of 7-Eleven convenience stores and thousands of military housing units throughout the western United States.
Joe Tavaglione also served on the California Contractors State License Board and on the city of Riverside’s Board of Public Utilities and Planning Commission. His charitable work includes stints on the boards of the Riverside Humane Society Pet Adoption Center and the Children’s Spine Foundation.
Tavaglione “had a heart of gold,” said Jim Ghilmetti, who served on the transportation commission with him from 2003 to 2019. “You couldn’t meet a nicer guy that was more compassionate and cared about everybody.”
While Tavaglione was a Republican in a state government dominated by Democrats, “party didn’t make any difference to him as long as they were doing the right thing,” Ghilmetti said, adding that Tavaglione “was a great mentor.”
Tavaglione was the third youngest of 11 children born to Guiseppe and Mary Tavaglione, who moved to Riverside from Pennsylvania in the late 1920s.
The family has deep roots in Riverside. Guiseppe founded the Rubidoux Winery in 1933, his son Nick joined his brothers in the construction business and the family’s Tava Lanes bowling center became a popular stop for politicians, including then-Gov. Pat Brown.
“Uncle Joe was, like the rest of his siblings, taught at an early age to work hard and give back to your community and region, as evidenced by the impact he has had here in terms of highway improvements,” John Tavaglione, Tavaglione’s nephew and a former Riverside city councilmember and county supervisor, said via email.
Tavaglione “never gave up on something he believed in” and decided “it was time for a younger man or woman” to take his place on the commission 14 days before his 101st birthday, John Tavaglione said.
“He was a workhorse who never gave up (and) rarely stopped to enjoy the fruits of his labor,” John Tavaglione added.
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Renaming the interchange for Tavaglione seems fitting to Mayer. When a state budget crunch threatened to hold up funding for the interchange, Mr. Tavaglione “got everybody in the room” to find a solution, Mayer said.
After the project’s contractor “walked off the job in the middle of a storm on Valentine’s Day … Joe is one of the reasons why the project got back on track,” Mayer said.
Work on the $427 million interchange finished in 2008.
Much of what Mr. Tavaglione accomplished “was because of his own humility,” Mayer said.
“He was a very humble person. He had integrity. He was honest and he had a deep respect for other people … If Joe Tavaglione looked at people who were coming from two different directions (or) three different directions and said ‘You need to go over there and figure it out,’ it was like, ‘All right, we’re going to do it.’”
