A Menifee 24/7 reader e-mailed me a topic of discussion that hits home with me.

There's a stretch of road on Antelope Rd, between Garbani and Craig roads, that's been torn up by the folks working on Christensen Ranch. They've laid some patchwork of temporary asphalt, and patchwork of asphalt is dangerous for motorcycles and scooters.

It becomes dangerous at night, because you can't see the bumps up ahead. It's not that bad of an issue in the daytime. But it's bumpy enough that even if you were to ride at a moderate pace of about 40mph, you still can't see the bumps coming up in the darkness, and they'll put a lot of tear on your vehicle.

And at night, you pretty much have to stay with the flow of traffic because the cars behind you often have difficulty seeing you. It's hard for drivers to gauge the distance of the motorcycle in front of them, and its rate of speed.

The most dangerous scenario comes when a motorcycle has to brake hard for another vehicle, or object in the road. When you apply the brakes firmly over a bumpy surface, the bumps cause the wheels to lose traction with the road, and lock up. That causes a skid, which will often result in the motorcyclist going down.

Scooters are even more susceptible to this, because they are much more difficult to see at night, and their light weight makes them more unstable on bumpy roads.

I ride a motorcycle most of my driving time. It's rare that I actually drive a car or truck these days. Even just for commuting around town, I can get 40-50 miles per gallon with it. Scooters can vary from 50-100 MPG. I'm seeing so many more people in Menifee riding motorcycles and scooters for that very reason.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees that stretch of Antelope as an accident waiting to happen.

Labels: Antelope-Road, Christensen-Ranch, Motorcycles

Here's a comment sent in to us today regarding the palm trees along Antelope Road...

Who's idea was it to butcher all the "fan palms" along Antelope Road in early April? It looks ridiculous to me...like a bunch of bare "Q-tips". It will take years for these Mexican Fan Palms to grow back to their natural full look.

Are there are any tree experts reading this that can comment? Click on Post a Comment below.

This is just an opinion, but in many places where I've lived, I noticed the city or county trimming palm trees down narrowly as well. I wonder if it's because they'd rather trim them once every couple of years, excessively, instead of spending the extra money to trim just a little, several times each year.

Labels: Antelope-Road

Three Comments!

The Traffic along Newport Road is awful in the AM. I am concerned about what will happen with Centex at The Lakes is completed and the Newport Road Extension to Winchester. Does anyone know if there are plans to widen Newport, between Menifee Road and Antelope? It would appear that the island down the middle would need to go?

Second- What about plans for a fwy bridge at Holland or Garbani, in addition to an onramp? This would alleviate a lot of the traffic.

Third- I have seen the light poles on the floor at Scott and Antelope for the last week, it would be nice to see them up and working sometime soon!

FYI: I have heard a few plans from Murrieta leaders. I understand that Clinton Keith construction will begin next year and the plan is take it all the way to Winchester. Also, there is supposed to be new bridges, about 6 lanes built at Scott Road/215 and Clinton Keith/215 and also at Baxter Rd, where on onramp/offramp will be. This is in preparation for the new hospital off Antelope in 2008 (See previous listing, there was an article in the Californian last month).

Labels: Antelope-Road, Centex-at-the-Lakes, Clinton-Keith-Road, Newport-Road, Scott-Road, Traffic

I was wondering if there is any update for the light at Scott and Antelope? October is coming to an end. The wait at the stop sign is getting really ridiculous. As a matter of fact, when I was looking at homes last year before I bought my current home, my Sunday wait at the stop sign discouraged me from buying my home in the developments off Scott road. Julie, is there a number we can call to expedite this light?

Labels: Antelope-Road, Scott-Road

As I sat on the corner of Antelope and Scott, I wondered how much gas I was wasting because of the lack of stop lights on the corner. I had some stop light envy as I noticed the lights near the gas station, about 30 yards from where they should be. I then took my "wondering" a step further. I assumed that in a given month, an average person could easily burn 1.0 gallon minimum or 2.0 gallons maximum of excess gas waiting for their turn at the stop sign. Assuming only 5000 cars pass through that intersection during rush hour, I calculated that at minimum, 5000 to 10,000 gallons of excess gas are consumed due to lack of a stoplight. At $2.75/GALLON, that is $13,750 to $27,500 per month in excess gas costs or $165,000 to $330,000 yearly.This does not take into account the value of our time. In addition, as the year progresses, the number of cars will surely increase, as will our wait time. I am about ready to stand on the corner and take up a collection for a stoplight! Any volunteers? :))

We urgently need to have a light placed at that intersection! I am assuming that would be the responsiblilty of the county's transportation department. It would be nice to have a timeframe and specific date given to us as to when we could expect this light.

PS: Increasing the number of lanes on the 215 FWY should be top priority. Our city's growth and home prices may depend on it.

Labels: Antelope-Road, Scott-Road

Scott Road and Antelope traffic problem is one of the highest priorities for Supervisor Stone's office. I talked to Mr. Russ Garrett who told me that the office is working closely with the City of Murrietta to place a light signal at this intersection. This light signal will be paid for by Hugh Investments (owner of the shopping center) and is scheduled to be up in October, 2005. In the interim, Stone's office is coordinating with the CHP/Sheriff Department for Community Service Officers to be trained in which to direct traffic in this area. This should be in effect very shortly.

There will be a new Community Facility District (CFD) designation to widen Scott Road to 4 lanes from the 215 to Briggs Road. Eventually the plan will be to widen Scott Road from the 215 to the 79, 6 LANES.

The reason behind all of this road congestion is that the previous County Administration required little infrastructure of the developers when their projects were approved. They did not have the foresight to realize that once you build, more will come. Now the past has caught up with us, Supervisor Stone is trying to get these issues fixed as fast as possible.

Labels: Antelope-Road, Scott-Road