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Forty Years of I-15

It has been both recognized and criticized as one of the most congested sections of freeway in the
nation. And, as the New Year begins, improvements are well underway to relieve the almost
daily traffic gridlock on Interstate 15 as it crawls through the Temecula Valley.

Phase 1 of the four phase French Valley Parkway Project was completed n 2014—over a decade
ago—with the off-ramp at French Valley Parkway.

Phase 2 of the project is underway with a projected completion set for late Spring or early
Summer this year. This phase is designed to easy the daily bottleneck at the I-15/I-215 split.

Design services for Phase 3, to include a bridge over the I-15 at French Valley Parkway, are out
for bid, according to the City of Temecula’s website.

Phase 4 is so far in the distance we will probably have those long promised flying cars by then.

But was we look toward the future, it’s important to look back 40 years ago when work was
completed on I-15 though Southwest County connecting our region south to San Diego and
opening the path for almost all of the development that has taken place here since 1985.

The 1968 Federal Aid Highway Act provided funding for an Interstate highway connection
between Colton and San Diego to run through Southwest County. The new highway, for the most
part, would travel the route of existing, two-lane, Highway 395.

Kaiser-Aetna, which had purchased the 85,000 acre Vail Ranch in 1964, granted Caltrans the
right of way in the region recognizing the modern freeway as key to their planned development
of Rancho California.

In the early 1970s, work began in San Diego County on what would become Interstate 15.
Construction of the beautiful Lilac Road Bridge, which spans the freeway south of modern-day
Highway 76 in San Diego County, was under way in 1977.

Work began on the freeway project through Rancho California in 1975 but would stop and start
for almost a decade. The Rancho California Road bridge over the new freeway was completed in
1976 and the Winchester Road bridge finished in 1979. Both have since been widened
considerably.

Finally, in 1982, the three-year project was kicked off to build the four-mile, eight-lane section
from about where the Temecula Parkway offramp is today, past the U.S. Border Patrol station to
connect with the freeway in San Diego County.

In January 1985, officials with the California Department of Transportation strung a large paper
banner across one lane of Interstate 15 where it travels uphill from Temecula toward Rainbow
and the San Diego County line.

The plan was to have a procession of antique cars, led by a 1911 Ford Model T, crash through the
banner to mark the opening of a freeway section that would change Southwest County forever.
The completion of a four-mile, $26.8 million section of modern freeway meant motorists would,
at long last, be able to travel 88 miles nonstop from San Diego to Corona.

As a shivering crowd of about 50 looked on the wind that regularly whips through the Rainbow
Gap let loose a blast that tore through the large banner, ripping it to pieces. Undaunted, the
antique-car drivers proceeded through the remains of the banner and the modern freeway through
Southwest County officially opened on January 24, 1985.

The section’s completion paved the way for the first big wave of new residents that began
arriving in Southwest County in the mid- to late 1980s. Other improvements have taken place
along the way including the Overland Overpass over the freeway which was completed in 1999.

As we can see, freeway projects take time and money, lots of money. Those who remember the
1985 opening likely could not have imagined the region as it is today.

Written by John Hunneman

For three decades John Hunneman was a reporter and columnist for both The Californian and Riverside Press-Enterprise newspapers. He retired in 2020 after serving as the Communications Director for California State Senator Jeff Stone.

John currently serves on the City of Murrieta Parks and Recreation Commission and is on the Board of Directors of The Nature Education Foundation at the Santa Rosa Plateau.

He recently concluded two years of service on the Riverside County Civil Grand Jury.

John is a proud Vietnam-Era U.S. Navy veteran and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

He and his wife Yvonne have lived in Murrieta for 35 years. Both of their sons graduated from Murrieta Valley High School.

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