A proposal for SR76

Proposals offered to date seem to neglect the real reasons for the need of a wider State Route 76.

The local traffic has only increased moderately but the through traffic from the casinos on 76 and the commuters to and from Riverside County have increased exponentially. Add to that the trucks and proposed rock quarry trucks on the same road makes for a very busy SR76. Therefore, the real issue and goal is to get the traffic through this area as quickly as possible by building an express freeway connector.

We would submit a route not under consideration, which addresses the real issues. From the 76 at Vista Way, four lanes would continue east, south of the river, and connect to the 15 without off-ramps or cross traffic. Keep it simple!

Leave the present bridge and road up to Mission, allowing locals to move freely without mixing it up with the semis and commuters. This would save local businesses and allow residents to easily move out of massive amounts of traffic on our doorstep.

Every effort should be made to keep signals on 76 to a minimum. We, the locals, don’t need access to a freeway. Having an express connector would also alleviate commuter traffic through Fallbrook on South and East Mission, SR13.

A variation to this proposal is to run along the north side of the river, but this may cost more due to the additional bridges required.

Keep Old River Road as the south side frontage road and keep Mission and Pala roads to the 15 as the north side frontage and “76 Business.”

Should an access road from the 76 connector to South Mission be required, the most efficient would be at or near Camino Del Rey, since it already has a river-crossing bridge. For the north side variation, the one and only on- and off-ramp could be at South Mission. Minimum ramps mean less land used up and less money spent.

Planting trees and landscaping would provide a visual and sound barrier for residents.

Fred and Donna Stephens