Contract Awarded to Begin Work on Newport Bridge

Plans for the Newport Road freeway interchange include cloverleaf on- and off-ramps, eliminating the need for some traffic signals on the expanded freeway bridge.

The first step in the actual construction of the expanded Newport Road 215 Freeway interchange will begin within the next month, thanks to the awarding of a construction contract for the project today by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.

Menifee Mayor Scott Mann announced today that the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the awarding of a construction contract to Ames Construction at a cost of $31.2 million. According to Mann, that is $17.2 million lower than the original cost estimate of $48.4 million.

"If change orders are kept to a minimum, we will be able to reprogram millions of dollars from our Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) into the Scott Road Interchange without disrupting the funding or construction of the Holland Road Overpass (which is fully funded)," Mann announced on his personal Facebook page and in an email to Menifee 24/7.

Motorists have witnessed preliminary work by crews relocating utility lines during late-night hours over the last few months. That work is now complete and the actual widening of the bridge and reconfiguration of on- and off-ramps can take place.

The project is scheduled to be completed some time early next year.

This location has been one of the most talked about traffic snarls in Menifee in recent years, with motorists claiming to have waited through 9-10 traffic lights and sometimes close to half an hour to get across the bridge at peak traffic times. What has your experience been? Take part in our survey below and check back often for the results.

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Some recent comments sent in to our reader poll:

-- Heading north on Antelope, trying to turn left onto Newport. The traffic backs up on the Newport bridge. Then the people heading west on Newport get mad because there's no room for them when it's their turn, so they go across anyway and block the intersection. It's gotten so bad that people will go straight across Newport on Antelope, make a U-turn, then turn right onto Newport into the freeway only right lane and wait to squeeze into the other lanes, thus blocking anyone who wants to go north on I215. What a nightmare!!!

-- Scott Rd is just as bad.

-- Easily 45 minutes.

-- If the Holland Road Overpass is fully funded, then this should be done PRIOR to the Newport Bridge. We need an alternate for the Newport Bridge during construction.