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Temecula residents urge GPAC to remove four‑lane widening designations for Los Ranchitos streets
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Summary
Residents of the Los Ranchitos neighborhood told the GPAC at a Feb. workshop that proposed four‑lane widenings on Inez/La Paz and Yanez/De Portola should be removed from the general plan because of safety, driveway access and equestrian impacts.
At a Feb. GPAC workshop, several Los Ranchitos residents asked the General Plan Advisory Committee to remove planned four‑lane widenings on Inez/La Paz and Yanez/De Portola from Temecula's general plan, citing safety for drivers, horses and driveway users.
"They're proposing to put 4 lanes in front of our driveways," Louis Todd, president of the Los Ranchitos homeowners association, told the committee, asking members to "support our request" to remove the designation. Todd said the corridor now serves direct driveway access for long‑standing homes and that four lanes would create unacceptable conflicts.
Lee Rizzo, who said she lives in one of Temecula's oldest residential areas, argued the widening would raise speeds and "increase crash severity," making everyday maneuvers—particularly left turns into driveways and movement with horse trailers—more dangerous. "Wider roads increase speed," Rizzo said, and that the general plan "should not redesign [established] residents to serve pass through traffic."
Several speakers reinforced those concerns. Dr. Eric McKilligan said the corridor serves many direct driveways—"they count to 67 exactly"—and said a four‑lane configuration would be incompatible with existing driveway access and equestrian trailers. Mark Letourneau and other residents reiterated requests that GPAC remove the wider‑road designations carried in the 2005 general plan.
Speakers framed their appeal as a call for a context‑sensitive review rather than an outright denial of future improvements. They argued modeling that measures vehicle delay does not account for driveway safety, equestrian sensitivity to speed and noise, and the character of an older neighborhood that predates commuter diversion patterns. Residents asked the GPAC to evaluate alternatives such as lower speed limits and safety‑first designs instead of automatic lane additions.
The committee heard multiple requests but took no formal action on the items during the session. Staff said the GPAC will use public input, consultant analysis and future outreach to study focus areas and return with research and recommendations at later meetings. The GPAC announced there will be no meeting in March and expects to continue work in April.
