Liesemeyer seeks resolution to raised median issue

By Doug Spoon, Editor

A Menifee City Council member has requested a staff re-evaluation of the City’s Capital Improvement Program to assess the need for a raised median on Bradley Road north of Newport Road.

Matt Liesemeyer made the request during Wednesday’s council meeting, saying recent discussions about safety factors on that stretch of roadway make the evaluation necessary.

“There has been discussion about the safety at a driveway on Bradley Road north of Newport,” Liesemeyer said during the meeting. “I feel it could result in [legal] exposure to the city. We should either add the improvements needed to the CIP or, if it is determined there are no concerns, we can move on.”

Liesemeyer told Menifee 24/7 today that he believes leaving the situation unresolved would be a mistake, and that the City should “try to mitigate liability.”

Discussions of the installation of a raised median at that location came up during Planning Commission and City Council consideration of a request to approve the Menifee Crossroads development – a proposed 103,000-square-foot commercial center to be built on the northeast corner of Newport and Bradley roads. The center is proposed to include a specialty grocer (tenant not announced), a Denny’s restaurant, two retail shop structures and two office space structures.

The applicant withdrew the application, however, after the City added the requirement of a raised median on Bradley Road. The owner of the neighboring Newport Plaza center had responded by threatening a lawsuit against the applicant, who would’ve been required to pay at least a share of the median cost. The Plaza’s complaint was that a raised median would eliminate left turns from northbound Bradley Road into that driveway.

During the Menifee Crossroads discussion, City engineer Nick Fidler appeared to send mixed messages. At one point, he indicated that a raised median should be part of the General Plan’s roadway plan. He also indicated, however, that the median would become more of an issue if Menifee Crossroads or some other development became reality, increasing traffic.

“Currently, the roadway operates at an acceptable level with the current traffic volumes and traffic striping/markings in place,” Fidler said in an email to Menifee 24/7 on Dec.17. “However, as traffic volumes continue to increase on both Bradley Road and Newport Road, changes to the roadway would be necessary and include the installation of the median.”

In an interview with Menifee 24/7 today, Liesemeyer also pointed to a previous statement by council member Lesa Sobek that she has nearly been in a collision at the entrance of the driveway, suggesting there already is a safety factor.

Earlier in Wednesday’s meeting, Liesemeyer questioned Fidler regarding a consent item agenda regarding the creation of a local roadway safety plan.

“How will this integrate with the General Plan?” Liesemeyer asked. “What about streets in the city that are not built to General Plan capacity but are assumed will be built to be safe. For instance, putting in a raised median on a road that doesn’t have one to eliminate a turning point?”

Fidler responded that the local roadway safety plan would evaluate existing accident data, not the overall road structure. Later, after Liesemeyer made the request for a future agenda item, city manager Armando Villa said that an evaluation of the Capital Improvement Program could be included in the mid-year budget review.

The agenda request was approved for an upcoming meeting.

It’s possible that the Menifee Crossroads developer could re-apply if it was not the one responsible for installing a raised median, but there has been no indication of that at this point.