New Signs Placed Near Busy Intersection at Menifee School

A maintenance worker finishes trimming trees between a newly placed safety sign and additional stop signs at the intersection of Menifee Road and Aldergate Drive.

City officials responded quickly to complaints Thursday morning about cars running the stop sign at Menifee Road and Aldergate Road, near one end of the newly opened "missing link."

On the morning of the first full day the road was open, no additional signage had been installed warning southbound motorists about a stop sign at Aldergate, adjacent to Freedom Crest Elementary School. Matthew Morgan, who has a kindergarten student at the school, said he notified the city after watching several cars blow through the stop sign at high speeds Thursday morning.

"There was a traffic officer there and he took off after them, but it was the worst I've ever seen," Morgan said about the traffic violations. "They could've avoided this. We were assured by the city there would be signage."

That signage was placed before school let out in the afternoon. Two additional stop signs were placed between the traffic lanes before the crosswalk. A reduced speed sign was placed up the hill from the intersection and another school zone sign further up the hill.

In addition, trees on the west side of Aldergate just north of the intersection were cut back by workers today so the original stop sign is more easily visible from a distance.

"I didn't realize how hard it was to see the stop sign until I went out there today and looked," said Rafael Martinez, assistant director of public works. "The trees were trimmed right away to make the sign more visible."