City Council approves feasibility study of trail extension

This is as far east as the Salt Creek Trail currently extends as it emerges from under the 215 Freeway. (File photo_

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The Menifee City Council last week approved an expenditure of $141,735 for design services related to an unpaved portion of the Salt Creek Trail east of Antelope Road.

A 4.1-mile stretch of the trail from Antelope Road west to Goetz Road was paved and given traffic signals on major cross streets in 2021. That has become a popular walking and biking trail along the north bank of the dry creek bed. The original County general plan from 20 years ago includes an extension of the trail eastward, behind the Well Quest Facility and Oasis retirement community. That 1.6-mile dirt stretch of the trail is on Oasis property and is not currently open for public use.

“The building of the golf course made it a less than ideal situation for the trail,” said Mayor Bill Zimmerman, who was a Riverside County Trails Commissioner at the time the trail route was first discussed. "The Oasis has asked to quit claim the easement to the City and to hold them harmless.”

Council member Dean Deines said Oasis residents have expressed to him their concern about having strangers walking past their back yards on the trail, which runs along the base of a hill.

Dokken Engineering was chosen from among three bidders for the design services. According to the staff report, the feasibility study “would help the City better understand the viability of creating a trail extension, maintenance of the trail, the trail’s ability to meet the needs of the community, and to provide recommendations on next steps for trail development.”

The extension of the trail would also require a safe way for trail users to cross Antelope Road, near the front gate of Oasis.

To help offset the cost, $100,000 would be transferred from the County’s Salt Creek Trail Fund to the City. The balance would be taken from Developer Impact Fees designated for trails.