Traffic in Temecula is measured by the levels of service (LOS) at intersections. The scale goes from A-F with LOS "A" being virtually no cars and LOS "F" meaning that the traffic is beyond the roadway's capacity.

When we incorporated in 1989, traffic was horrendous due to the fact that the County of Riverside approved project after project without requiring the developers to build the needed roads. It was one of the main reasons the people decided (with a vote of 87%) to incorporate as a city. Things were so bad in the early 90’s that we had to hire guards to direct traffic at key intersections. We had many roads operating at LOS "F".

We starting turning things around in the mid 90’s, but when I was first elected in 1997 we had started getting behind, yet we had a very large sum of money for capital improvement projects. Along with then-Councilmember Lindemans, I led the charge to design and construct over $70 million in new roads. This included the widening of the Rancho CA Road Bridge and the construction of the Overland Bridge. It also included a major financial contribution to assist the county in the full widening of Highway 79 South. All of these improvements have made a tremendous difference for our citizens.

Today, although traffic on some roads is greater than I’d like, we are in the middle of an even more intensive improvement program. $250,000,000 is budgeted over the next 5 years to build the new French Valley Parkway and Interchange, the ultimate improvements to the Highway 79 South Interchange, and both an Eastern and Western Bypass around the city. There are many other circulation improvements planned as well.