SANDAG endorses larger I-5 expansion
Widening still needs state's approval
Regional leaders endorsed plans Friday for one of the largest Interstate 5 expansion options available, saying they want the flexibility to build as large a freeway as money will allow in future years.
The vote by the San Diego Association of Governments Board of Directors is not the final say on the size of the much-contested freeway widening.
But it bolsters the odds that state transportation leaders will choose the larger six-lane widening from Del Mar to Carlsbad, instead of four lanes or none at all. Two or four new lanes would be added from La Jolla to Del Mar. And, because of funding limits, only four lanes would be added from Carlsbad to Camp Pendleton.
During the board's downtown San Diego meeting, roughly 30 residents, environmentalists and current and former North County leaders called on the board to support smaller expansion models or scrap them entirely in favor of more mass transit.
Their urgings did little to change the 16-3 vote in favor of the larger project.
Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall, who voted 'yes,' said nothing is final about Friday's action.
"Remember, this is a long-range plan," Hall said. "To constrain it today (by endorsing a smaller expansion) would be short-sighted. Give our kids an opportunity to vote on what's right. ... We can always, through this board, constrain it at a later date."
The vote moves SANDAG's draft 2050 Regional Transportation Plan forward. That plan includes more than $100 billion worth of freeway and transit proposals, including the I-5 widening, for the next four decades.
The regional plan won't be ready for a final SANDAG vote until September 2011, but it is very likely to guide the California Department of Transportation in the spring and summer as it chooses how large an expansion to select. The majority of the new lanes proposed would serve car-poolers, buses and solo drivers willing to pay a fee.
SANDAG's endorsement is pivotal because the agency controls half the funding for the I-5 expansion, which would cost up to $4.5 billion at the largest build-out.
Laurie Berman, Caltrans' regional director, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon. Many more steps, including approval from the California Coastal Commission, must be completed before Caltrans can start construction in 2013.
Representatives for the cities of Del Mar, Solana Beach and La Mesa were the only ones to oppose Friday's vote on the Regional Transportation Plan, based on their desire to see a smaller expansion.
"There has to be a point where this widening has to stop ---- we cannot build our way out of congestion," said Solana Beach Mayor and SANDAG board member Lesa Heebner. "I am not happy with the super-sized (expansion option) that ended up on this list."
Former Solana Beach Mayor Marion Dodson, who sat on an I-5 expansion panel a decade ago, said that by choosing six new lanes, Caltrans would break a promise it made not to take any private property.
Adding six lanes along the 27-mile corridor from La Jolla to Camp Pendleton would force the relocation of 53 to 112 homes and businesses, a Caltrans official said at a recent meeting.
Hundreds more properties would lose part of their land or rights of way.
San Diego City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, speaking to the board during the meeting's public comment period, said she stood "in firm opposition" to plans for the larger expansion, noting that community planning groups in Torrey Pines and other areas in the corridor want a smaller project.
"You are giving Caltrans a de facto approval of an expensive and destructive alternative," said Lightner, who is not on the SANDAG board but represents residents from La Jolla to Carmel Valley.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, who is on the SANDAG board, made Friday's motion in support of the Regional Transportation Plan, and its larger I-5 expansion option, saying it was the best for the region.
Encinitas City Councilman Jerome Stocks favored the larger project, though he said he was "not 100 percent thrilled with it." In an earlier vote on Friday, Stocks was unanimously elected chairman of SANDAG's board.
National City Mayor and SANDAG board member Ron Morrison said the regional board must make bold decisions to meet transportation needs. He said past decisions to build new freeways weren't always easy or popular.
"Where would we be without (Interstate) 805?" Morrison said. "We wouldn't be like San Diego. We'd be like Omaha. No offense to Omaha."
Call staff writer Chris Nichols at 760-740-5426.
The vote by the San Diego Association of Governments Board of Directors is not the final say on the size of the much-contested freeway widening.
But it bolsters the odds that state transportation leaders will choose the larger six-lane widening from Del Mar to Carlsbad, instead of four lanes or none at all. Two or four new lanes would be added from La Jolla to Del Mar. And, because of funding limits, only four lanes would be added from Carlsbad to Camp Pendleton.
During the board's downtown San Diego meeting, roughly 30 residents, environmentalists and current and former North County leaders called on the board to support smaller expansion models or scrap them entirely in favor of more mass transit.
Their urgings did little to change the 16-3 vote in favor of the larger project.
Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall, who voted 'yes,' said nothing is final about Friday's action.
"Remember, this is a long-range plan," Hall said. "To constrain it today (by endorsing a smaller expansion) would be short-sighted. Give our kids an opportunity to vote on what's right. ... We can always, through this board, constrain it at a later date."
The vote moves SANDAG's draft 2050 Regional Transportation Plan forward. That plan includes more than $100 billion worth of freeway and transit proposals, including the I-5 widening, for the next four decades.
The regional plan won't be ready for a final SANDAG vote until September 2011, but it is very likely to guide the California Department of Transportation in the spring and summer as it chooses how large an expansion to select. The majority of the new lanes proposed would serve car-poolers, buses and solo drivers willing to pay a fee.
SANDAG's endorsement is pivotal because the agency controls half the funding for the I-5 expansion, which would cost up to $4.5 billion at the largest build-out.
Laurie Berman, Caltrans' regional director, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon. Many more steps, including approval from the California Coastal Commission, must be completed before Caltrans can start construction in 2013.
Representatives for the cities of Del Mar, Solana Beach and La Mesa were the only ones to oppose Friday's vote on the Regional Transportation Plan, based on their desire to see a smaller expansion.
"There has to be a point where this widening has to stop ---- we cannot build our way out of congestion," said Solana Beach Mayor and SANDAG board member Lesa Heebner. "I am not happy with the super-sized (expansion option) that ended up on this list."
Former Solana Beach Mayor Marion Dodson, who sat on an I-5 expansion panel a decade ago, said that by choosing six new lanes, Caltrans would break a promise it made not to take any private property.
Adding six lanes along the 27-mile corridor from La Jolla to Camp Pendleton would force the relocation of 53 to 112 homes and businesses, a Caltrans official said at a recent meeting.
Hundreds more properties would lose part of their land or rights of way.
San Diego City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, speaking to the board during the meeting's public comment period, said she stood "in firm opposition" to plans for the larger expansion, noting that community planning groups in Torrey Pines and other areas in the corridor want a smaller project.
"You are giving Caltrans a de facto approval of an expensive and destructive alternative," said Lightner, who is not on the SANDAG board but represents residents from La Jolla to Carmel Valley.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, who is on the SANDAG board, made Friday's motion in support of the Regional Transportation Plan, and its larger I-5 expansion option, saying it was the best for the region.
Encinitas City Councilman Jerome Stocks favored the larger project, though he said he was "not 100 percent thrilled with it." In an earlier vote on Friday, Stocks was unanimously elected chairman of SANDAG's board.
National City Mayor and SANDAG board member Ron Morrison said the regional board must make bold decisions to meet transportation needs. He said past decisions to build new freeways weren't always easy or popular.
"Where would we be without (Interstate) 805?" Morrison said. "We wouldn't be like San Diego. We'd be like Omaha. No offense to Omaha."
Call staff writer Chris Nichols at 760-740-5426.
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