City officials from La Quinta and Indio want to extend the traffic lanes on a mile of Madison Street that links both cities.

Indio City Council unanimously decided last week to ask the Coachella Valley Association of Governments for $2.73 million, or 75 percent of the funds for the regional project. La Quinta and Indio would split the remaining $910,000.

The $3.64 million project slated for next year involves expanding the two-lane road between Avenues 50 and 52 into four lanes. Construction will happen some time next year, Indio city officials said.

“Madison Street is a very important road that is becoming more utilized because of the many road improvements that the city has already made,” Indio City Councilman Glenn Miller said.

Indio alone has already made many improvements on Madison Street with $34.69 million it received over a year ago from CVAG for improvements between Indio Boulevard and Avenue 50.

A $2 million half-mile expansion between Avenues 49 and 50 opened in March. And the city is designing a bridge that would connect from Miles Avenue to Fred Waring Drive.

“Madison Street is an important north-south road because it allows people to travel from the south residential developments into the core of our city,” said Mark Wasserman, assistant to the Indio city manager.

Widening the lanes between Avenues 50 and 52 would help with increased traffic, but La Quinta needs to approve the project, too, because the city boundaries are in this area, Miller said.

The La Quinta City Council is expected to discuss the project during an upcoming meeting. The city expressed interest in it two months ago, La Quinta Public Works director Tim Jonasson said.

“This construction gives an alternative north-south route to alleviate traffic between Jefferson and Washington streets in La Quinta,” he said.