Meeting to discuss options for rerouting Highway 79 One concern is how environmental issues will impact plans to straighten the highway. By Rich Saskal The Press-Enterprise August 8, 2000 There's no question that state Highway 79 follows a long and winding route through the San Jacinto Valley. How to straighten it out will be the topic of a public forum Wednesday night in Hemet. The meeting, at 6:30 p.m. in Simpson Center, is sponsored by the Riverside County Transportation Commission. The existing route of Highway 79 meanders indirectly along Gilman Springs Road, Ramona Boulevard, San Jacinto Street, Florida Avenue and Winchester Road. The transportation commission came up with a variety of options in a preliminary route-realignment study completed in January 1998, said Hideo Sugita, the commission's deputy executive director. The next step is to select one preferred alignment, he said. The route probably will run along the west side of the valley, on or near the present paths of Sanderson Avenue or Warren Road. "There are issues that relate to the environment that will probably be some of the more critical telling points as to what the alignment might end up being," Sugita said. He said the primary issue is the presence of environmentally sensitive vernal pools, which are seasonally flooded depressions. After an introduction, participants at Wednesday's meeting will split into smaller groups to gather input from community members. The segment of the highway under study runs from Gilman Springs Road in the north to Domenigoni Parkway in the south. The highway's path through the valley has been the subject of controversy for some time. In May, the San Jacinto City Council voted to approve a Church of Scientology proposal to reroute a portion of Highway 79 away from the church's film studio on Gilman Springs Road and onto the Ramona Expressway. That rerouting is supposed to be temporary, until a permanent alignment is built. But there still is no timetable for getting that done, Sugita said this week. The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the James Simpson Memorial Center, 305 E. Devonshire Ave. in Hemet. http://www.inlandempireonline.com/news/stories/080800/hroad08.shtml