Scott Road bridge will be followed by widening project

This illustration shows how Scott Road would look when expanded to four lanes. Photo courtesy of City of Menifee

By Doug Spoon, Editor

In a figurative sense, Scott Road in the southern portion of Menifee has taken a beating lately.

Although the positive long-term effects of the current 215 Freeway interchange project are acknowledged by most, it’s difficult for motorists to keep things in perspective. Long waits behind backed-up traffic on Scott Road between Antelope Road and Haun Road in the midst of a summer heat wave can be quite a test of patience.

So when something else happens – as it did twice on July 12 – Scott Road’s status as a major thoroughfare from Menifee west to Lake Elsinore seems to take another hit.

“These roads are too narrow for the amount of traffic that uses them. Scott Road and Bundy [Canyon Road] are scary!” wrote one resident in a Facebook post that day.

Granted, there were two accidents 12 hours apart involving motorcycles on July 12 – including one fatality. Neither one was attributed to any construction or road hazard, however.

In a 5:15 a.m. accident on Scott Road at the northbound freeway on-ramp entrance, 45-year-old Curt Mayer was seriously injured when another vehicle ran a red light and struck his motorcycle. The other driver was arrested for DUI.

In another accident at 5 p.m. on Scott Road near Sweetwater Canyon Road, a motorcyclist was killed when he crashed into a vehicle while reportedly speeding and crossing over the center line into oncoming traffic in an attempt to pass slower traffic.

“The issues that occurred in Scott Road that day had nothing to do with the road conditions,” said Jonathan Smith, city engineer and head of public works. “One was a DUI. The other was a motorcyclist who wasn’t driving safely, passing traffic, speeding.

“There’s nothing we could’ve done to the road to prevent what happened.”

That said, it’s a fact that Scott Road is the focus of major improvements on two fronts: The current freeway interchange project and a separate project to widen Scott Road to the west toward where it becomes Bundy Canyon Road.

The $57 million Scott Road 215 Freeway interchange project began last summer and is on schedule for its estimated completion date of next winter or early spring, Smith said. The project involves construction of a new bridge next to the old bridge that will be six lanes wide and will include re-aligned and looping on- and off-ramps. After completion of the new bridge, the old bridge will be torn down.

Traffic has continued on the current three-lane bridge, although bridge closures, freeway lane closures and freeway ramp closures are commonplace. City officials post weekly updates on closures to alert motorists.

Even when the wider bridge is completed, traffic heading westbound past Haun Road will be reduced to the current two-lane stretch of Scott Road. That issue will be addressed by a separate project to widen the road from Haun Road west to Sunset Avenue – the western city limit.

That won't happen for a while, however. Smith said his goal is to break ground on that project in 24 months. City officials last week interviewed three consulting companies that are bidding for the design of the project. The design phase could take up to two years to complete, followed by construction, estimated to take 14 months.

The project will widen Scott Road from two to four lanes, with a 12-foot median and 8-foot shoulders. That will provide an extra lane each way for motorists to pass slower traffic.

So far, less than $2 million of the estimated $28.8 million cost has been funded. Smith said over the next two years, city officials will seek funding by the usual means for such road projects, including the Riverside County Transportation Commission, Western Riverside Council of Governments, Measure DD funds and other sources.

Smith said it will be necessary to take frontage of bordering properties for the additional right of way. The project will include pedestrian and bike pathways and a drainage system.