People who live and work in North County may end up being held hostage by a horrible highway compromise, that SANDAG wants to propose at their next Board meeting. Up for adoption on February 25th is the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) that will set in stone San Diego County’s highway funding priorities for the next twenty years. Tucked away in this plan, is a recommendation by Caltrans to halt the widening of State Route 76. SANDAG and Caltrans officials met with me about the adoption plan and I made it clear to them that their new plan should remain an orphan.
At SANDAG’s upcoming meeting, they want to also adopt a new Revenue Constraint Plan. The wording in this new plan is very important, because if a road project is not written into the plan, funding will not even be considered by SANDAG in the future.
Currently, Highway 76 is set to be widened from two to four lanes from Melrose Drive to I-15, it is to have a median that later could be replaced for two additional lanes. Caltrans in their infinite wisdom wants to wipeout the existing Highway 76 project and replace it with a downsized, four-lane project from Melrose Drive to Mission Road. This proposal is unacceptable to folks who live, work and commute in North County.
Wake-up SANDAG and smell the coffee. North County is going to continue to grow and we can either fix this traffic problem now or, wait until gridlock bumper to bumper traffic forces North County residents to take up pitchforks and storm the Bastille.
Another problem has to do with the over 300 property owners, who have been left in limbo by the bureaucrat’s poor decision making. These folks have homes within the proposed Highway 76 widening alignments and don’t know if a freeway is going to be running through their backyards. They are forced to disclose to potential buyers that their property lies within a proposed freeway alignment creating a cloud on title.
SANDAG’s and Caltrans’ solution to the problem is, to start over with a downsized project and select other property owners to burden. My solution is to ask our elected state legislators to come to the rescue, by demanding a time limit of two years for the route selection process. When the two years are up and nothing has happened, then the properties must be released from consideration. Right now the process is too long and burdensome for these severely impacted homeowners.
The original highway widening project from Melrose to I-15 will have an environmental and economic impact on the North County and a balance needs to be stuck between the two. Environmentally, Caltrans needs to work now with agencies on mitigation efforts before the Highway 76 area is built out. Economically, businesses are losing revenue along Highway 76 because it at peak traffic periods drivers don’t want to hassle with the congested roadways, so they shop elsewhere.
Highway 76 is a pivotal east-west connector that is already a parking lot during rush hour and a partial fix will not handle existing traffic let alone future commuters. Caltrans’ down-scoped project is a weak compromise at best. SANDAG needs to keep the funding in the Revenue Constraint Plan for the current SR 76 project intact. Widening the highway from Melrose Dr. to I-15 is the only solution that will work, anything else is an accessory to highway robbery.
# # #