Temecula's 17-Mile Bike/Pedestrian Loop Around City Closer To Finish

TEMECULA, CA — On Saturday, the city of Temecula celebrated the Santa Gertrudis Creek Interconnect trail opening. The project opened a trail between Ynez and Diaz roads by providing a path that goes under Ynez Road, Interstate 15 and Jefferson Avenue.

Residents and city dignitaries turned out over the weekend to ride or walk the new trail section that lets non-motorists avoid heavily trafficked city intersections.

The interconnect is only about 1 mile long, but that short trail segment helps extend a planned 17-mile loop around the city that ties several trails together to keep pedestrians and bicyclists safer on paths built especially for them.

The loop is nearly finished except for two sections — an approximately 1-mile stretch at Sommers Bend that is being funded by the developer, and a more than 2-mile segment of the Temecula Creek South Side Trail that will connect east and west Temecula and provide an undercrossing at Redhawk Parkway.

Concerns about transients camping out near trail segments, especially the newly opened Santa Gertrudis Creek section, were addressed by city officials on social media last month.

"Public Safety remains a top priority for the City of Temecula and our residents," according to the September post. "Once this trail opens, it will actually allow our staff and law enforcement to better patrol the area, which in turn will enhance safety on the trail. Our team remains active and dedicated to ensuring our community members can enjoy the wonderful trails that Temecula has to offer."

Here's a look at a map of the 17-mile city loop, with an explainer below.

Moving clockwise along the 17-mile loop, the newly opened Santa Gertrudis Interconnect (shown in yellow above) joins the open Santa Gertrudis Creek Trail that features a Margarita Road undercrossing. The trail will eventually tie into the approximately 1-mile-long Sommers Bend segment (see red stretch at top of map above) that will join the now-open Butterfield Stage Road buffered bike lanes, which are a key connection between north and south Temecula, as well as east Temecula to Murrieta. The Butterfield Stage Road segment will join the approximately 2.5-mile-long Temecula Creek South Side Trail (see bottom red segment) that will hook into now-open Ynez Road bike lanes, the Santiago Road bike lane/trail near Old Town, and the Murrieta Creek Trail that ties into the Santa Gertrudis Interconnect on the northwest side.

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