Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Ultimate interchange or ultimate deal?

A storied 35-acre tract at Temecula’s south side is drawing new scrutiny as city officials plan the start of a $30.6 million project that is intended to ease traffic congestion at a crucial city bottleneck.

City public works officials say they are finishing environmental reports and charting the start of construction in about a year on the so-called “ultimate interchange” at Interstate 15 and Highway 79 South, which is also known as Temecula Parkway.

At the same time, members of a newly-formed citizens’ watchdog group are dissecting the city’s $7.1 million purchase of the tract nearly four years ago from a land partnership that has close ties to key city leaders. Now, some citizens say the purchase of all 35 acres may not have been necessary, and the amount needed could have been obtained through exercising eminent domain.

Tract’s rich past revealed

The out-of-the-way land tract hugs the west side of I-15 at the southern end of Old Town Front Street.

The tract’s west side marks the confluence of creeks that together form the 27-mile-long Santa Margarita River, which descends through a rugged granite canyon on its way to Camp Pendleton and the ocean.

A Luiseño Indian village that gave Temecula its name is believed to have once covered much of the tract’s ridges and knolls.

A cultural resources survey prepared for the city identified at least one archaeological site on the property and the possible remnants of a railroad line that once connected San Diego and Temecula.

The railroad line, which passed through the river gorge before entering Old Town, was completed in 1882. The line was later abandoned when the rails washed out when flooding soured the canyon walls.

The report, which was submitted to the city in December 2004, recommended that further study be done of the area. It recommend that no development occur on the southernmost segment of the property and steps be taken if work were to intrude into the railroad bed and possible bridge footings.

Yet as the site’s environmental and archaeological importance has grown, so has vehicle congestion on Temecula’s south side.

Traffic has continued to mushroom as the fast-growing commercial corridor of Hwy 79 has added a Wal-Mart and numerous strip malls and houses continue to sprout in subdivisions that flank both sides of the busy highway.

Periodic expansions of the Pechanga Indian casino have also helped to clog streets, intersections and freeway ramps.

In 2001, the city counted about 29,500 vehicles a day using the state highway just east of the interchange. The daily count tipped 47,300 vehicles a day in 2002 and reached nearly 66,900 last year, according to city records.

As congestion has intensified around the clotted interchange, so has the difficulty exiting or entering the freeway on the existing ramps.

Especially during peak travel times or a casino special event, drivers heading south on I-15 often must join a long queue of vehicles waiting to exit.

It can also be difficult for northbound drivers to merge onto the freeway during peak travel times.

City’s interest stirs

Ownership of the rectangular property can be traced to January 1996, which is when KI/FKLA Rancho Realty LLC sold the site to Margarita Canyon LLC for about $2.4 million, according to a grant deed recorded by Riverside County.

An ARCO gas station and convenience store was subsequently built at the north end of the site, but the rest of the land remains undeveloped.

The city’s interest in the site surfaced publicly in May 2004. It was then, according to city records, that the council first met behind closed doors to discuss property negotiations with landowner Fred Grimes.

A July 2004 appraisal report done by a city consultant played a key role in establishing the tract’s value. The appraiser used two methods, including comparing land values of several local and regional sites, to estimate the value of the Margarita Canyon LLC land at $7.105 million.

Other Temecula sites examined in the report included a 22.7-acre parcel along I-15 where an auto mall expansion is under way, a 5.2-acre parcel at Ynez Road and Overland Drive where a restaurant and strip mall now stands and a 4.7-acre parcel along Jefferson Avenue that remains undeveloped.

The appraisal report states that more than half of the Margarita Canyon site cannot be developed because the terrain is uneven or the slopes of Murrieta and Temecula creeks encroach upon useable land.

Purchase raises possibilities

The council voted to purchase the land nearly three months after the appraisal report was completed. In a 3-0 vote in open session, the council approved a staff recommendation to pay $7.1 million for the land.

At the time of the land deal, city public works officials said in newspaper stories that the future work to reconfigure the freeway interchange and ramps would cost about $15 million.

Planning proceeds

amid scrutiny

The media coverage waned following the land deal and planning has progressed on the interchange improvements.

Part of the site has been used as an impromptu park-and-ride lot by commuters who gather before trekking in groups to jobs in San Diego or other cities throughout Southern California.

Enough funds have been earmarked to build the interchange improvements, Bill Hughes, Temecula’s public works director, said in a recent e-mail interview.

More than half the $30.6 million construction cost – about $17 million – would come from gaming funds the city receives as a result of the regional traffic impacts caused by the Pechanga casino.

Another $10 million would come from a countywide development fee that is earmarked for future road and freeway projects, Hughes said.

Construction plans are being finalized for the project and work is expected to start in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Construction will take several years and the completion timetable calls for the new ramps to begin functioning sometime in 2012, Hughes said.

He said the construction of the new freeway ramps and other improvements will require about one-third of the 35-acre Margarita Canyon site. Any remaining flat land that is not affected by environmental or archaeological restraints might be used as a parking lot, he said.

Hughes said the city might not need any additional land outside the Margarita Canyon purchase to build the future improvements. If additional pieces are needed, they would likely just be small slivers on the periphery of the ramps project, he said.

 

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