Land acquisition for Holland Road Overpass continues

By Doug Spoon, Editor

City of Menifee officials recently took the next step in the long process of preparation for the summer 2021 start of construction of the Holland Road Overpass. Meanwhile, additional information provided by the Public Works Department shows the effect the project will have on land and traffic on both sides of the freeway.

The Menifee City Council on Feb. 19 approved a right of way acquisition agreement for one of the vacant parcels most needed for the west end of the bridge. The property is located at the northeast corner of Holland Road and Haun Road, just north of the self-storage facility.

According to the right of way contract, the property is needed to accommodate the four-lane bridge on the west side of the freeway. The property acquired by the City includes:

- 114,411 square feet or 2.627 acres of land for public access;
- 15,314 square feet or 0.351 acres for a permanent maintenance and utility easement;
- 10,796 square feet or 0.248 acres for temporary construction easement
- 41,880 square feet or 0.961 acres for Irrevocable Right-of-Way offer of Street
Dedication.

The purchase price to be paid to the Nelson Family Trust, owner of the property, is $1.42 million. It will come from the budgeted amount for the $27 million project, according to city documents.

The Holland Road Overpass will be a four-line bridge over the 215 Freeway.

Last August, the City Council approved right of way appraisals and offer packages to several adjacent property owners to accommodate the bridge, easement and temporary construction space. They include Menifee Storage and Cantabria Development LP, which owns the apartment building on the northeast corner of Holland Road and Antelope Road. Finalization of those purchases has not been announced.

Revenue from Measure DD in 2020-21 is estimated at $11.2 million, which would be enough to complete funding for the project.

Design graphics and information provided to Menifee 24/7 by Jonathan Smith, City public works director, provide some detail about landscaping and aesthetics for the project and answers questions about traffic impact near the intersection of Holland Road and Antelope Road.

Heading west toward the freeway on Holland Road, the incline of the bridge will begin at Hanover Lane. Because the bridge will span the full width of the current Holland Road between Hanover Lane and Antelope Road, there will be no access to Antelope Road as the bridge crosses over it. Motorists wishing to access Antelope Road rather than the freeway will turn either right or left on Hanover. The shortest route will be to turn right on Hanover behind the Cantabria Apartments to Albion Lane, then left to Antelope.

The City’s Capital Improvement Program includes a traffic signal at Holland and Hanover, listed as a Priority 1 project. An additional traffic signal is planned for Albion Lane and Antelope, facilitating turns onto Antelope in place of the intersection at Holland that would no longer exist.

On the west side of the freeway, plans call for a signal at Holland Road and Haun Road, where stop signs now exist.

Landscape designs from TyLin International show that the adjacent land on both sides of the bridge west of the freeway will include trees and shrubs to match the existing landscape on Haun Road, along with low-water use shrubs, boulder groupings and decomposed granite.

On the east side of the freeway, plans call for the planting of palm trees north of the bridge to match the size and shape of the palm trees fronting Cantabria Apartments. South of the bridge will be evergreen and shade trees to match the residential development, along with rock blanket areas on slopes.

Sponsored post: