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“A” Street (Fairway Drive) Update, Sep-13

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Fairway Drive MapIt has been over four years since the City of Riverside closed Dufferin Avenue, and construction of the alternate route that was supposed to be completed before the closure took place has not even started.

I checked in again with the Riverside County Transportation Department last week, and here is the most relevant part of the response I received:

Ole,
My goal is to get this under construction no later than this coming summer.

I will keep following up.

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If you aren’t familiar with the Dufferin closure and/or want to read older posts about this issue click here.

Indiana Fire, Home Gardens – 07/16/13

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My son snapped this picture of the Indiana fire in Home Gardens (Riverside County) yesterday while we were driving on the 91.

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The fire was in the hills above Indiana (at about Lincoln / Skyridge) and below Lake Hills.

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According to Riverside County Fire, 112 fire fighters and 1 air tanker were assigned to this fire. The fire was reported at 1:48 PM and was contained to under 10 acres as of 2:58 PM.

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Riverside County Fire reported no injuries and no damaged structures. Thanks fire fighters.

indiana-fire-20130716-2

The Vote is Finally Certified – Kevin Jeffries Wins

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After weeks of counting, the Riverside Registrar of Voters posted the following on its website today:

The November 6, 2012 Election Results are certified. The deadline to request a recount is Monday, December 3.

The certified election results confirm that Kevin Jeffries defeated Bob Buster in the race for 1st District Supervisor of Riverside County.  Assemblymember Jeffries, who is completing his third and final term in the CA State Assembly, declared victory over incumbent Bob Buster last week.

Here are the official results from the Registrar’s website:

County Supervisor, 1st Supervisorial District
202/202 100.00%

Vote Count Percent
KEVIN JEFFRIES 57,573 50.56%
BOB BUSTER 56,300 49.44%
Total 113,873 100.00%

Congratulations to Supervisor-Elect Jeffries.  I expect that you will be hearing from me about the construction of “A” Street.

Good luck to outgoing Supervisor Bob Buster.

“A” Street (Fairway Drive) Update, Nov-12

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It has been about six months since I asked the County for an update on “A” Street (Fairway Drive), so I sent an email to Riverside County’s Transportation Department a few days ago asking for an update. I received this prompt response:

We are working with the property owners to acquire the needed property and fine tuning the design plans.  The design plans are expected to be done by February of next year.  I would expect that we could have the property needed for the project and be ready to bid by mid next year.

I also sent a follow-up email today asking for an estimated completion date, and will update this post when I receive a response.

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Update 11/15/12

Updated correspondence from the past few days:

Me: “Based on the estimated timeline of getting bids by mid next year, could you provide an estimate of when the road might actually be completed?”

County: “I expect this project to take 12 months to construct.”

Me: “Is that 12 months from now, design finalization in Feb 2013, bidding in mid 2013, or… ? I assume I know the answer, but I don’t want to rely on my assumption.”

County: “It would be 12 months from the start of construction. So, if construction started in September of 2013, it would be complete in September of 2014. Keep in mind that this is dependent on us being able to secure the funding needed. We have not yet secured all the funding we need for the project but are working on it.”

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If you don’t know what I’m writing about, click here.

The Side of the Road is not a Dump

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Abandoned couch by Lake Mathews It bothers me to see trash dumped on the side of the road. Why do people do this? Laziness? Cost? Apathy?

Whatever the reason, I decided to show people just how easy it is to visit the landfill.

I go to the El Sobrante Landfill in Corona, which is less than 10 miles away from Lake Mathews Dam where the couch shown above was dumped.

El Sobrante LandfillEl Sobrante - EWaste

The entrance to the El Sobrante Landfill is on Dawson Canyon Road off of Temescal Canyon Road. The first place you reach when you drive up the road to the landfill is the weigh station. The basic process is very simple:

  1. When the light turns green, drive onto the scale and check in with the attendant. The attendant will ask what you are dumping, weigh your vehicle and provide a safety vest if you don’t have one.
  2. Follow the signs to the landfill area. When you reach the area designated for cars and light trucks, you should be guided to a specific spot by an attendant. Back up and unload.
  3. Drive back down to the weigh station, get your empty vehicle weighed, and pay the attendant.

My most recent trip cost me $11.

El Sobrante Landfill - ScaleEl Sobrante Landfill

If you plan to go more than once, the attendant can give you a sticker with the weight of your empty vehicle. This will allow you to pay when you enter and skip the scale on the way out. I do this, and it is definitely more convenient.

For official information about this and other landfills around Riverside County, visit the Riverside Waste Management Department’s website.

El Sobrante Landfill
10910 Dawson Canyon Road
Corona, CA 92883

Sights: Fire Near Indian Truck Trail and I15 – 06/23/12

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From the Riverside County Fire Department incidents page:

Incident Name: Indian (CONTAINED)
Date Reported: 06/23/2012
Time Reported: 4:41 PM
Incident Location: Indian Truck Trl X I 15 N (TB8347-J2)
City: Northwest of Lake Elsinore

Final Update: Fire was mapped at 3.5 acres, final size. Resources will remain at scene for 1-2 hours. No injuries reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Lakepointe Fire: Tin Mine Road / La Sierra / Lake Hills

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Lakepointe Fire - 05/27/2012If you see smoke near Lake Mathews and Lake Hills, it is from the Lakepointe Fire.  As of the time I am writing this, here is the most recent update from Riverside County Fire:

Update 6:20 p.m. – Fire is holding at approximately 125 acres and is now 40% contained. Full containment expected by midnight and full control is estimated for 5/28/2012 at 6:00 p.m.. No structures threatened or damaged, no injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The incident report states that 4 helicopters, 7 air tankers, 13 engines and 150 firefighters have been assigned to fight this fire. Thank you to all of you.

Here are some of the pictures I took today (click to see larger versions):

Helicopter filling up at Lake Mathews:

Helicopter filling up at Lake MathewsHelicopter over Lake Mathews

Fire just above Lakepointe Drive in Lake Hills:

Lakepointe Fire - Engine on Lakepointe DriveLakepointe Fire - Engine on Lakepointe Drive

Helicopter water drop just over Lakepointe Drive:

Lakepointe Fire - Helicopter Water Drop over Lakepointe DriveLakepointe Fire - Helicopter Water Drop over Lakepointe Drive

Some of the airplanes:

Lakepointe Fire - Air SupportLakepointe Fire - Air Support

Lakepointe Fire - Air SupportLakepointe Fire - Air Support

If you have any pictures that you would like to share, please contact me and maybe we can include them on this site.

Campaign Signs or Flowers?

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This is the corner of La Sierra and El Sobrante in Riverside. Although this particular picture doesn’t show them all, as of this afternoon I counted 28 campaign signs at this corner.

Good thing people are banned from selling things such as flowers on this corner; otherwise we might not be able to see all of the signs.

Actually, I prefer the flower vendors.

“A” Street (Fairway Drive) / Dufferin Update

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I sent an email to Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster‘s office last week inquiring about the funding for “A” Street (Fairway Drive).  I received a reply the next day from a member of the Supervisor’s staff, which included an update that seems to be positive news for anyone who wants the street to be built.

Here is a quote from the email I received (I added the emphasis):

Most recently the City has approved that the County can take the lead in acquisitions of the Right-of-Way. This can be a lengthy process and the county is already pushing forward on the acquisitions. Therefore, a specific time line has not been established for the road project but our goal is to begin the building of the road within the next 12 months.

For more background, read the following summary from the March 15, 2012 TLMA Submittal to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. I will continue to post updates about “A” Street as I learn of them.

BACKGROUND: The “A” Street project is a proposed two lane collector road connecting McAllister Parkway to Van Buren Boulevard, of which 40 percent is located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the COUNTY and 60 percent is located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the CITY. In 2006 the COUNTY approved Tract 30153 (McAllister Hills), which would have constructed a golf course residential community development. The COUNTY required this tract to construct a new road between McAllister and Van Buren, referred to as “A” Street, which would serve traffic from the development and provide an alternate access route for residents of Victoria Grove, The Orchards, and other communities in the area north of Cajalco and east of La Sierra.

On December 18, 2007, the Board of Supervisors approved item 3.58 which consented to and authorized the CITY to act as lead agency on behalf of the COUNTY for purposes of land acquisition services and eminent domain necessary for “A” Street, since most of the property to be acquired was within CITY limits. The road design was nearly complete and right-of-way acquisition was about to commence in 2008 when work ceased on the developer’s project, which went into foreclosure due to the economic downturn.

Since that time, the community desires to see “A” Street move forward ahead of development due to the closure of the extension of McAllister north into the City of Riverside, which was done by the CITY in 2009. The CITY and COUNTY are working together to identify potential funding for this project.

On November 30, 2010, the Board of Supervisors approved item 3.63, Engineering Services Agreement by and between Hunsaker and Associates and the COUNTY. The engineering firm did the original road design for the Developer. The firm is in the process of reviewing and revising the original design, including additional geotechnical engineering work to see what can be done to reduce construction and right-of-way costs via a reduced roadway section and engineered slopes.

The Agreement between the COUNTY and the CITY provides the terms and conditions under which said Project is to be pursued. The Agreements further defines project-related activities, including real property activities, to be performed by the CITY and the COUNTY. The Agreement will also formally revoke the COUNTY’s consent to authorize the CITY to act as lead agency on behalf of the COUNTY for purposes of land acquisition services and eminent domain necessary for said Project, and designates the County as lead agency.

If you would like to read more about “A” Street and the Dufferin Avenue closure, click here.