SANDAG grapples with shaping the future with dwindling funds
Originally published February 3, 2011 at 2:15 p.m., updated February 4, 2011 at 11:15 a.m
Barona indian reservation — SANDAG Chairman and Mayor of Encinitas Jerome Stocks, described the regional planning group as "a very busy agency with a lot of balls in the air," at the annual strategic planning summit at Barona Casino and Resort on Thursday.
"About $9.2 billion worth of projects in the pipeline," according to the executive director of the agency Gary L. Gallegos.
The San Diego Association of Governments staff and directors, with local politicians and advocates, are gathered to talk about that $9.2 billion and the $110 billion that it plans on spending over the next 40 years on highways, mass transit, bicycling and pedestrians and an array of other projects, and how they all figure into the relatively new concept, sustainable communities.
That 40-year spending plan is being articulated right now and will be out in what promises to be a well-read document in April, the draft 2050 Regional Transportation Plan.
Money and policy go hand in hand and for several hours a robust dialogue spun around the meeting room trying to answer the fundamental questions at the core: What kind of community do we want to be 40 years from now?
The regional transportation plan will go a long way toward answering that question and staff and directors try to strike a balance between bigger, more-managed and less-cluttered highways; mass transit and public transit; bikeways that will interlace much of the county; and whether or not the public wants to or should want to abandon its cars for bicycles.
Before grappling with the future, the audience got a run down of just how many "balls " were in the air in 2010. By any standard, it was a great year to be in highway construction and design.
· Widening has begun on the middle section of SR 76, from Melrose to Mission, in North County.
· Work continues on the I-15 Express Lanes project.
· The extension of State Route 52 to Santee is nearly done.
· The massive $620 million overhaul of the San Diego Trolley's Blue and Orange lines was launched .
· Design has begun on the I-805 expansion.
· A route for the Mid-Coast Trolley extension was approved.
· A regional bicycle master plan was adopted.
· Green house gas emission targets for the region were set -- a move that instantly raises the importance of reducing smog-spewing traffic on the highways.
· On the books in various stages are more than a dozen projects to improve the coastal rail corridor, from double tracking to bridge replacement to street crossings.
As a bellwether to the year ahead, Gallegos noted that there is "an unprecedented number of environmental documents in circulation" for future projects, including the widening of I-5, the final leg of State Route 76 expansion, State Route 11 and the new border crossing and, for variety, a plan for sand replenishment on local beaches which could be ready to go by March 2012.
The economy and the disappearing funding from state and federal agencies were cause for some consternation although much of the funding of county projects comes from the TransNet Fund, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2004.
"Almost all money being collected at the state and federal level is being used to maintain what we already have," said Gallegos.
But a down economy is also good for SANDAG. Gallegos noted that in 2010, the agency acquired $350 million in funds at a fixed rate of 3.89 percent -- the lowest rate in the agency's history. The money, he noted, enables the agency to move up the schedules of many critical transportation projects.
Something new to the discussion this year -- in this form at least -- was the concept of "sustainable communities." It is an umbrella term under which is collected strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the number of cars on highways, creating more alternative transportation, guiding future growth into denser urban areas and harnessing technology to give us all better lives.
In other words, "elected officials having to make unpopular decisions," quipped Jim Madaffer, former San Diego City Council member.
San Marcos mayor Jim Desmond questioned the use of policy to prod people into taking mass transit and car pools. "I have a problem with forcing people out of their cars," he said. "I want to be in my pod. I don't want to hear your music, I don't want to listen to you sneeze...
"We're trying to force change in people's behavior."
Port Authority chairman Scott Peters sees the process differently. "We know growing closer in(to urban areas) is cheaper, that building new roads takes money from old roads," he said. If nothing is done, "Desmond will be spending extra time in his car in the future. It will be his choice."
Elyse Lowe of the advocacy group Move San Diego said creating transportation options "is not forcing people from cars but making it possible to have fewer cars in the family."
Others wondered about the consequences of living environmentally sound lives. La Mesa mayor Art Madrid pointed out that successful water conservation projects can end with higher water rates, to compensate for the lower revenues.
San Diego city councilman David Alvarez wondered "how do you (create) incentives when fares are increasing and transfers have been eliminated."
Courtesy of SignOn San Diego - The San Diego Union-Tribune
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