Clinton Keith Bridge In Wildomar To Be Widened

Plans to widen the bridge on Clinton Keith Road in Wildomar are headed for county sign off.

If supervisors give the green light, the $20 million project would see the bridge widen from two to six lanes and improved freeway on/offramps at Wildomar’s most heavily traveled corridor.

The project is expected to land before the board of supervisors Sept. 13, according to Wildomar Public Works Director Tim D’Zmura.

D’Zmura provided an update on the project during Wednesday night’s regularly scheduled meeting.

Once approved by the board of supervisors, D’Zmura said the project would be put out to bid the following day. If the project stayed on track, groundbreaking would take place in January with an anticipated completion date in Summer 2013, he said.

The project was made possible through the Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee Program (TUMF). Under the program, developers of residential, industrial, and commercial property pay a development fee to help fund transportation projects that become necessary as a result of increased traffic the projects create.

The county would oversee the Clinton Keith bridge project, but during Wednesday’s meeting council members voted 5-0 to transfer supervision of other TUMF projects in Wildomar from the county to the city.

Council members also prioritized the current list of TUMF projects still awaiting funding and/or approvals. In a unanimous vote, council agreed to rank the pending projects in the following order of importance:

--Widening Bundy Canyon Road to four lanes (from the 15 Freeway to the 215 Freeway);

--Adding two lanes on Clinton Keith Road (from the 15 Freeway to Copper Craft Drive);

--Realigning and widening Palomar Street to four lanes (from Mission Trail to Jefferson Avenue);

--And widening Grand Avenue to four lanes (from Central Avenue to State Route 74).

Timelines on these projects are still uncertain; some of the projects will also require agreements with other cities that are affected by the improvements.

City Manager Frank Oviedo said Southwest Riverside cities work well together on TUMF projects.

“I think it’s been very amicable."