New Speed Limits Get Tentative Greenlight

Riverside County supervisors tentatively agreed today to establish speed zones in nine locations, increasing speed limits in a half-dozen places and decreasing the maximum allowable speed in one spot.

The county's Department of Transportation submitted a request to modify the speed limits on each route following engineering and traffic surveys that indicated adjustments were needed.

In some cases, the roadways were widened or paved, making faster travel safer, DOT officials said.

New speed zones -- where no speed limit was previously posted -- are
planned at the following locations:
   -- Algrave Avenue, between Winchester and Skyview roads, near Murrieta, 35 mph;
   -- Cloche Drive, between Thompson Road and Algrave Avenue, near
Murrieta, 40 mph;
   -- 11th Street, between Park and Lakeview avenues, in Lakeview, 40 mph;
   -- Gibson Avenue, between Nuevo Road and Park Avenue, in Lakeview, 40 mph;
   -- La Sierra Avenue, between Dufferin and Cleveland avenues, near
Riverside, 45 mph;
   -- McAllister Parkway, between La Sierra Avenue and Praed Street, in Lake Matthews, 40 mph;
   -- McAllister Parkway, between Praed Street and McAllister Street, in Lake Matthews, 45 mph;
   -- Morgan Hill Drive, between El Chimisal Road and Villa Helena Street, near Temecula, 40 mph; and
   -- Olive Avenue, between Chicago Avenue and Fairview Avenue, in East Hemet, 35 mph.
   Speed limit increases are proposed on the following routes:
   -- Alessandro Avenue, between Artesian Avenue and the Ramona Expressway, in San Jacinto, from 40 to 45 mph;
   -- Cherry Valley Boulevard, between Beaumont Avenue and Noble Street, in Cherry Valley, from 35 to 40 mph;
   -- Jameson Road, between Camino Limon Road and Clay Canyon Drive, near Corona, from 30 to 35 mph;
   -- Los Alamos Road, between Crawford Canyon Road and Algrave Avenue, near Murrieta, from 25 to 40 mph;
   -- Rutile Street, between 56th and Galena streets, in Glen Avon, from 35 to 40 mph; and
   -- Serfas Club Drive, between the Riverside (91) Freeway and Rancho Corona Drive, near Corona, from 30 to 35 mph.

The Transportation Department wants to decrease the speed limit from 50 to 45 mph on Mariposa Avenue, between Wood Road and Barton Street, in Woodcrest.

The sheriff's department and area California Highway Patrol offices have been notified of the proposed adjustments, officials said.

The board will hold a public hearing on the new speed zones at its May 3 meeting, when it's expected to formally adopt the changes. --City News Service