Businesses Hurt During French Valley Interchange Construction

The peak months for Mick Trask, who has owned Precision Auto Electric of Murrieta for 15 years, are typically during the summer.

Due to ongoing construction of phase one of the project, the same can not be said this summer, Trask told Patch. His shop at 41537 Cherry Street specializes in auto air conditioning. However, with the intersection of Cherry Street and Jefferson Avenue closed down for weeks, business has dropped off, he said.

"Usually AC keeps me going all year," Trask said. "But getting here now is a challenge; less than half of customers who make appointments are showing up."

He said his bottom line has been affected by the closure for the last six or seven weeks, noting he has made calls to the cities of Temecula and Murrieta expressing his troubles.

Businesses were originally told the intersection would be closed for five weeks, he said.

"You know this is all part of progress, so you try not to be a squeaky wheel, but it does hurt," Trask said. "Long-term it will be huge; it will put Cherry Street on the map and it will make it easier for people to get here."

The city of Temecula is the lead agency on the project. Phase one—expected to be completed by December 2013—will consist of a freeway off-ramp to Cherry Street from southbound Interstate 15. A groundbreaking was held June 21.

"[Phase one was] designed to provide interim relief by widening the existing southbound off-ramp at Winchester Road, constructing the southbound off-ramp at the future French Valley Parkway, and constructing the westbound portion of French Valley Parkway between the new off-ramp and Jefferson Avenue," according to project information given on the city of Temecula website.

"Current work activities will impact traffic on Jefferson Avenue, Madison Avenue, and southbound Interstate 15," according to the website.

This started June 21 with limiting Jefferson Avenue to one lane in each direction between Auto Mall Parkway in Murrieta and Buecking Drive in Temecula, which was estimated to continue for eight weeks, according to the website.

It was also estimated that beginning Monday, Aug. 20, traffic on Jefferson Avenue would be shifted to the west side, still one lane in each direction plus a median lane. That was expected to last about five weeks.

Additionally, Madison Avenue is closed at the Temecula-Murrieta border.

As of Monday, Temecula Community Relations Director Grant Yates said he believed the change in traffic diversion along Jefferson—which would help business owners such as Trask—was on the verge of taking place.

"Our goal is to not impact the businesses or the traveling public," Yates said.

He said they been doing everything in their power to keep the community abreast of road closures, which includes the use of social media and keeping the Web page updated.

"We are are in that hard phase right now," Yates said.

Once the second phase is completed, French Valley Parkway will provide an alternate route to Interstate 15 from Ynez Road—alleviating traffic from the Winchester Road interchange.

While construction is just a few short months in, Trask said fortunately his contract for outfitting and maintaining Murrieta Police Department vehicles has been keeping him afloat.

"If it weren't for that account, I would do a temporary shutdown to save on overhead," Trask said. "There is no shortage of phone calls, it is just the percentage of people who actually come in."

Customers currently need to take Date Street west to Adams Avenue, then travel north to access Cherry Street, he said.

An adjacent business owner told Patch he was having a bit more trouble making it through the difficult weeks while Cherry Street remained closed west of Jefferson Avenue.

"In July, we had a 50 percent decline," said Michael Mitsuyasu, owner of The Tint Shop. "We are a drive-by business; it is one of the reasons I picked this street."

Mitsuyasu was looking forward to the imminent re-opening of Cherry Street. He's had to cut back on staffing, and is now down to himself. It helps that he has been doing window tinting in the area since 1995, he said, resulting in some word-of-mouth customers.

"I have been patient about this—yelling about it isn't going to change anything."

Boris Said, owner of , is also patiently biding time until the project is complete. Said explained that he knew going into opening the dealership last summer that the project would soon be taking shape.

"Once it is done, it is going to enhance our business," Said told Patch. "It is going to be better for us and better for the community."

The dealership—located to the east of Jefferson along Auto Mall Parkway—is housed in a temporary building until the interchange is finished. Once roadwork is done, plans are still to construct a permanent facility on property just across the street, Said explained.

In the meantime, a bulk of the interchange construction is taking place across the way from the temporary facility.

"We still have to deal with dirt; our expenses are way up from washing cars," he said. "In saying that, they said it would be 16 months. And the second phase, with an overpass and a northbound exit, is also going to add access. It is going to get better and better. It definitely is tough but we just have to hang in there."