Challenged by traffic backups that sometimes occur during events, the Soboba tribe is considering cutting the available seating at its arena from about 10,000 seats to about 3,500 seats, tribal council member Rose Salgado said Monday.

Salgado told about 230 people gathered for the annual State of the Valley Address, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, at the Country Club at Soboba Springs that the tribal council has been considering steps to ease the traffic congestion that has been occurring lately in the area around the Soboba Casino.

Other San Jacinto Valley and Riverside County officials also expounded on plans and issues facing the San Jacinto Valley, including discussions about the latest plans for State Route 79 and new businesses that are in the works for both Hemet and San Jacinto.

Municipal and county officials provided status reports on a number of projects during the annual State of the Valley, such as Highway 79 improvements, commercial and retail development, and restaurants slated for Hemet.

Asked about how the tribe plans to tame traffic and improve circulation in the surrounding area, Salgado said among plans being considered is reducing the number of seats in the arena in order to reduce the number of vehicles that come to the area for events. The casino and arena could only be accessed through Soboba Road.

"We had some concerns ... just because of the volume of people coming to the casino," Salgado said. "Unfortunately, we have only one access in and one access out, and we're working on that."

Traffic generated by concerts and performances at the Soboba arena has been in the spotlight in recent weeks.

Soboba Arena concertgoers and neighbors have complained about traffic snarls at the facility. The tribe may cut the number of seats in the arena to make traffic more manageable.

Last month, a number of concertgoers complained about being stuck in traffic or completely missing out on a concert staged by country singer Alan Jackson after being tied up in traffic going to the Soboba Casino.

Salgado said the casino is trying to address the problem by adding parking and configuring the casino gates to have separate access for the casino and for events. She said a decision on arena seating could be made by next month, before the casino begins booking acts for next year.

She said less seating would also acknowledge the area is in tough economic times and people are spending less money for entertainment.

"We're looking at the economy, we're looking at traffic and we're looking at the cost of staging an event," she said, adding that a smaller venue would be less expensive to operate.

Chamber President and CEO Patti Drusky said the plans could address traffic, but would also affect local tourism and businesses, such as restaurants and gas stations, that benefit from big events at the arena. "It's kind of a Catch-22," she said.

Aaron Hake, government relations manager for the Riverside County Transportation Commission, said a draft environmental review is being completed on proposed improvements to State Route 79.

San Jacinto Mayor Jim Ayres said the city is working to move along the San Jacinto Gateway, a major commercial and retail development west of the city.

Reach Herbert Atienza at 951-763-3464 or hatienza@PE.com