Temecula has about one year to secure $10 million to start work on what city officials have dubbed the "Ultimate Interchange," a long-anticipated offramp project that has been designed to smooth out southbound traffic at the junction of Temecula Parkway and Interstate 15.

"I need that money to enter into a construction contract by the end of the calendar year (2011)," said Greg Butler, the city's public works director.
As detailed during multiple public meetings on the project, the Ultimate Interchange will carry traffic from Interstate 15 directly to the eastbound lanes of Temecula Parkway via a loop. The existing offramp will be used to handle the motorists headed west into Old Town Temecula.

That configuration ---- dividing the traffic into two separate queues ---- should greatly improve flow because, right now, both sets of motorists are clumping together on an offramp that is regulated by a traffic signal. The signal, combined with the heavy traffic headed to southern Temecula and the Pechanga Resort & Casino, leads to cars waiting to go through that interchange backing up for miles, a snarl that has a ripple effect on traffic on southbound Interstate 15.
Earlier this year, the city thought that the needed money would be coming from the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians.

As part of an agreement the tribe and the city had signed in the spring, the tribe would contribute $10 million for the interchange project, which would help carry traffic to the casino.

In addition, the tribe agreed to an annual payment of $2 million that would be used for other infrastructure projects and public safety costs affected by the addition of new slot machines at the casino.

That agreement has since fallen apart and the city this fall filed a lawsuit against the tribe to get maybe $3 million a year for those costs.
With that $10 million funding stream in limbo, Butler has been working on back-up plans.

"I've got feelers out for federal money should it become available and there are some transportation grants that we might be able to secure," he said.
And if those wells are dry? Is it possible the Pechanga could step in and help out at the last minute?

"I don't know the answer to that yet," he said.
During a phone interview, Temecula Mayor-elect Ron Roberts said he's confident city staff members will find the money and he said regional transportation bodies, the agencies that are sitting on hundreds of millions in developer and building fees, are well aware of the project.

"They understand that is so important to get that completed," he said, adding that those agencies should be able to shift money around to allocate $10 million.
"I'm not worried about that," he said.

As for the status of the lawsuit and the negotiations with the Pechanga tribe, neither city nor tribal officials have reported any talks in the last few weeks.
Call staff writer Aaron Claverie at 951-676-4315, ext. 2624.