Bridge Would Provide New Connector Between Murrieta and Temecula

Jackson Avenue south of Murrieta Hot Springs runs almost into Ynez Road in Temecula. There is just one thing missing: a bridge over Warm Springs Creek.

To the south in Temecula, more housing developments have sprung up near Harveston. Just to the north of where the bridge will be, Temecula Valley RV has been waiting patiently for five years.

“Finally, finally,” said Erik Kitley, owner of Temecula Valley RV. “It will give us exposure and offer convenience to our customers.”

Since relocating from Old Town Temecula to the Jackson Avenue spot, Kitley said many of his longtime customers thought they had disappeared.

Neighboring the RV center is Murrieta Palms Mobile Home Park. Though residents can see Ynez Road from where they sit, they travel north on Jackson to get to Murrieta Hot Springs. Then they travel either east to Margarita Road, or west to access the interstates.

The project has been on a Murrieta Redevelopment Agency priority list for at least 10 years, but has yet to break ground. That could change soon. During a recent City Council meeting, Council members directed City planners to move it to the top of the list.

“This should have been done 10 years ago,” said Councilman Alan Long. “But really more importantly, it addresses that regional concern of the amount of cars we have on Interstate 15.”

Long added that it would also relieve congestion on Murrieta Hot Springs Road.

Councilman Rick Gibbs agreed.

“Some folks 10 years ago didn’t get along with the City of Temecula,” Gibbs said, blaming that for the reason the project has continually been delayed.

“God forbid when that 9.0 earthquake happens; that 15 freeway is gridlock,” he said.

The projected cost of the bridge and improvements to Jackson Avenue are about $7.5 million, according to Community Development Director Mary Lanier. Council members asked that the bridge project be broken away from a Whitewood Road extension that is being proposed to connect to Jackson. That project was then moved the the No. 4 spot on the priority list.

In all, the City has about $41 million in redevelopment project plans. With recent talks from Gov. Jerry Brown about taking redevelopment monies away from local governments, Assistant City Manager Jim Holston said until they hear otherwise, they will proceed with allocating the money.

“Right now that is an unknown; we don’t know exactly what the governor is going to do,” Holston said.

According to Holston, redevelopment funds come in the form of tax increments from blighted economic areas. Local governments have control over where they put those funds. Murrieta began putting those funds into a coffer, using them on projects such as the Los Alamos/Interstate 215 bridge improvement and the Clinton Keith/Interstate 215 improvements.

Other areas the Council identified as priorities were the north and south business corridors. The north corridor is near Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta. The south is on either side of the Interstate 15/215 interchange and includes street design improvements for Madison and Guava.

“By opening up the development, we hope to bring in an education center, office buildings and some zoning that allows for hotels,” Holston said.

“It is also a circulation element.”

Holston said staff will bring back dollar amounts for the projects to the next City Council meeting, when he said Council will likely allocate the funds.

City Manager Rick Dudley said that in not knowing what the outcome of Gov. Brown’s budget will ultimately be, the City should act wisely in allocating the funds. He suggested providing a withdraw clause should redevelopment funds be taken away, to avoid overburdening the general fund.

“It is possible that the governor is using the redevelopment as a negotiating tool,” Dudley said.

Kitley was optimistic the bridge was nearing fruition, and praised the City’s recent prioritization.

“The last three or four years, the City of Murrieta has been great to work with. They’ve embraced me with open arms. Whenever we’ve gone to the City Council, they’ve been very receptive.

“This project is actually pretty well developed. All the entitlements are done.”

Prior to that, Kitley said he operated in Temecula for 10 years until one-third of his property was taken away by Riverside County flood control.

Lanier said there was no start date yet for the project, but that the City does have the redevelopment money to complete the bridge and the work on the north and south business corridors.

“Then if the funding allows, we’ll start on the Whitewood right-of-way acquisition,” Lanier said.