The Temecula City Council Tuesday adopted an ordinance setting speed limits for seven roadways throughout the city following the latest engineering and traffic survey report.
For the vast majority of the roadways surveyed, speed limits remained unchanged, but for portions of Butterfield Stage Road, De Portola Road and Ynez Road, the report by Willdan Engineering recommended reducing speed limits.
For Butterfield Stage Road, the speed limit will go from 55 miles per hour to 50 miles per hour from Rancho California Road to De Portola Road.
On De Portola, the speed limit will go from 45 miles per hour to 40 miles per hour from Jedediah Smith Road to Margarita Road.
On Ynez Road, the speed limit will go from not posted to 45 miles per hour from North City Limits to Date Street and from 45 miles per hour to 40 miles per hour from Santiago Road to Jedediah Smith Road.
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“I’m glad to see that these speed limits are coming down,” Councilmember Zak Schwank said. “It makes me feel safer when I ride my bike. It makes my kids feel safer when they ride theirs, and I know the community values that, but it wasn’t always like that, so it’s a little heartwarming to feel like we’re going in the right direction.”
Louis Todd, who lives on De Portola Road, was one of three people who spoke in support of the speed limit reductions at the meeting.
“I would hope that this first step of a five mile an hour reduction is not the end,” Todd said. “I’m hoping it’s just the beginning. I also hope that we don’t have to wait seven years or 14 years to see another reduction.”
In order to make speed limit recommendations, the survey included radar speed measurements for vehicles traveling on the roadways as well as visibility restrictions and roadway conditions as observed in August and October of last year and January of this year. The survey also included crash data from 2020, 2021 and 2022.
In other council action: The Temecula City Council adopted a resolution supporting Proposition 36, which seeks to make several changes to the way crimes involving theft and drugs are handled in the state. The ballot initiative will be on the November ballot. Read more here from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.
A full recording of the meeting can be found here on the city’s YouTube channel.
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