TEMECULA -- Improving Pechanga Parkway was a major issue on the minds of audience members at Thursday's Town Hall meeting at Wolf Creek Fire Station on the south side of the city.

Many of the meeting's 23 attendees wanted to know why the expansion of the congested road, which carries traffic to and from the Pechanga Resort and Casino, has not been completed.

The widening of Pechanga Parkway is identified as a $30 million project in the city's capital improvement program. It would create six lanes between the Pechanga Parkway Bridge near Temecula Parkway, formerly known as Highway 79 South, and Wolf Valley Road. The section of Pechanga Parkway from Wolf Valley southeast to Deer Hollow Way would remain four lanes, but undergo a variety of improvements.

Temecula Mayor Chuck Washington and City Councilman Mike Naggar, who headed the meeting, offered explanations on why construction has yet to begin, such as difficulties securing the right of way. Some, however, voiced dissatisfaction with those answers.

"If you look at this project and how long it has been needed, these are not good explanations for why it is not finished," said Volker Lutz, of Murrieta, who has a business in Temecula. "You have more and more homes coming in; more and more people using the road. At some point, you have to wonder about (city leaders') ability to do what they are supposed to do."

Dan York, deputy public works director for Temecula, said the city is still negotiating with a commercial property owner along the road to gain the needed right of way to begin the widening. He said he expects the project to go out to bid in January, with construction starting in spring 2008.

Temecula Assistant City Manager Aaron Adams said the construction period is expected to last 12 months.

People at the Town Hall meeting also questioned if the Wolf Creek housing developers did enough to make sure infrastructure was adequate before building homes.

The widening project will be mostly paid for by fees from the Wolf Creek development -- approximately $18 million -- plus $4.4 million from the Pechanga tribe, a $4 million federal grant and reimbursements from various other agencies.

Pechanga Parkway has been scrutinized lately as a new gambling deal with the state would allow the casino to add 5,500 slot machines to the existing inventory of 2,000. The expansion is expected to increase the number of visitors and vehicles traveling on Pechanga Parkway.

Thursday marked the third Town Hall meeting conducted by Washington and Naggar this year. The next scheduled Town Hall meeting is 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Harveston Lake House in northern Temecula.

Contact staff writer Nicole Sack at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or nsack@californian.com.