Officials, residents celebrate opening of Holland Overpass

By Doug Spoon, Editor

A project that was first envisioned decades ago became reality Tuesday when City of Menifee and regional officials celebrated the opening of the Holland Road Overpass.

In a ceremony held at 9 a.m., a large crowd stood on the bridge and listened to Mayor Bill Zimmerman and other members of the City Council celebrate the long-awaited moment. Comments were also made by officials from Caltrans and the Western Riverside Council Governments (WRCOG), organizations heavily involved in the approval and funding of the $35 million project.

Following a brief performance by the Paloma Valley High School NJROTC drill unit, a ribbon cutting was held and local officials took their first ride across the bridge in vehicles provided by the Sun City Cruisers car club.

Finally, about 3:30 p.m., the bridge was opened to the public, with motorists taking advantage of the east-west route over the 215 Freeway. The project does not have freeway on- and off-ramps because of its close proximity to the Newport Road Interchange, but Zimmerman said that’s actually a plus for local residents.

“This is our local road,” the mayor said. “There’s not commuters using the Holland Road Overpass the way they are with the Newport and Scott Road interchanges. This one is going to be for us.”

The overpass will provide a direct route for residents living east of the freeway to Haun Road and the Countryside Marketplace, as well as Paloma Valley High School and other important venues. It will also provide an easier traffic route for Mt. San Jacinto College students living west of the freeway. All this will reduce some of the traffic congestion on Newport Road and Scott Road, which are regional thoroughfares.

The bridge features two lanes in each direction, a bike lane and sidewalks. A traffic signal has been installed at Haun Road and Holland Road and another one will soon be installed at Hanover Lane and Holland Road.

“This is a day to celebrate,” Zimmerman said. “Any time we are reducing traffic congestion and making improvements, it’s reason to celebrate."

“A project of this size takes a team to complete,” Assistant City Manager Bryan Jones told the crowd during the morning ceremony. “We’d like to thank Southstar Engineering, TY Lin and Riverside Construction for their contributions to this project. We’d also like to acknowledge the great work of our public works team, including Public Works Director Nick Fidler and our CIP Principal Engineer, Carlos Geronimo.”

As noted in a Menifee 24/7 news article on Oct. 18, the Holland Road Overpass faced many obstacles on the way to becoming reality. But today, it carries its share of the traffic burden for the City of Menifee.

Mayor Bill Zimmerman gets the first ride over the full length of the bridge.