Board conference addresses business partnerships for traffic solutions

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors hosted a board conference April 27 to discuss business partnerships for traffic solutions.

The scheduled speakers included representatives from the San Diego Association of Governments, the California Department of Transportation, the San Diego County Department of Public Works.Additionally, Jack Templeton of Templeton Associates introduced the Commuter Activated Ride Sharing Program, the UCSD vice chancellor for auxiliary and plant services addressed sustainable transportation at university facilities, and the Port of San Diego’s maritime program manager addressed balancing goods transportation needs with Barrio Logan community needs.

“We know that by working together, we can affect changes,” said Board of Supervisors chair Pam Slater-Price.

SANDAG was represented by TransNet project manager Craig Scott, who informed the supervisors of the progress on the next phase of the Highway 76 expansion.“We’re trying to jump-start the environmental work on that,” Scott said.

Vehicle miles traveled in San Diego County have increased from 35 million in 1980 to 72 million in 2000.During that time state freeway miles increased from 272 to 304.“We have not been keeping up,” said Pedro Orso Delgado, the Caltrans District 11 director.

Orso Delgado noted the need for surface street alternatives.“We need to look at the overall area as a system,” Orso Delgado said.“The freeway system is part of it.”

He noted that approximately 80,000 daily commuters live in Baja California or Riverside County.

His comments also included plans for bus rapid transit lanes on freeways and the use of ramp meters to improve freeways at merge points. Currently 268 freeway ramp meters exist in the county with another 11 proposed and funded and 137 proposed but not funded.

Orso Delgado also addressed the issue of truck traffic, which comprises five to ten percent of San Diego County’s vehicle traffic.He noted that noise restriction ordinances often prevent deliveries at off-peak times and that international traffic must be processed through a customs broker and thus must operate during the hours of Mexican banks.

Orso Delgado also expressed a commitment to completing the widening of Highway 76.“We need to get Route 76 done, and we’re going to do that,” he said.

Caltrans has begun the improvement process with work at the intersection of Highway 76 and Olive Hill.The eventual widening between Melrose Drive in Oceanside and Interstate 15 will cover 11 miles and cost an estimated $420 million.Orso Delgado noted that for all capital projects average daily traffic and financing plans determine the timetables for the improvements.

Karen King, the executive director of the North County Transit District, noted that Caltrans is now an advocate of transit.“The more choices we have, the more solutions we’re going to have,” she said.“I think we’ve come a long ways.”

Many traffic delays are due to accidents, and Orso Delgado noted that the county could possibly reduce delays caused by medical examiner investigations of fatal accidents and by hazardous materials units.

Larry Watt, the deputy director of the Department of Public Works’ Transportation Division, gave the DPW presentation.“It’s hard to get from Point A to Point B if you’re not focusing on safety,” he said.

The County of San Diego itself is the fifth-largest employer in the county with approximately 17,000 employees at more than 300 locations. “We’re very interested in making programs available to allow our employees to keep out of rush hour traffic,” Watt said.

The county’s programs include subsidies for transit passes or vanpool payments, a guaranteed ride home program for transit users, telecommuting, flexible hours, bicycle accommodations, and county facilities near transit locations if possible.

The county divested County Transit Service to the Metropolitan Transit Development Board in 2002, but the county has invested $30 million in transit centers in various locations.County policies encouraging congestion relief include encouraging developers to mitigate parking requirements through a rideshare plan and the recently-enacted transportation impact fee scheduled to take effect June 19.

The County of San Diego maintains approximately 2,000 miles of roads in the unincorporated area.“We’re very interested in making sure we do a good job of maintaining them,” Watt said.

The county also operates and maintains 159 traffic signals and has applied for grants to coordinate traffic signals in Fallbrook, Lakeside, and Casa de Oro.“You’ll be seeing them shortly in the communities,” Watt said.

In 1989 DPW established a multidisciplinary road review safety audit program which brings maintenance, traffic, and design engineers together.The county has immediate site reviews for fatal or major injury accidents to determine whether improvements to the intersection are warranted, and some potential safety improvements such as striping or signage may be addressed immediately.

The unincorporated area includes 98 schools.“We work very closely with them to improve school zone circulation,” Watt said.

The county operates 39 flashing beacons in school zones which can be turned on and off remotely.“That’s a big benefit to the schools,” Watt said.

The county also regularly applies for state Safe Route to Schools grants. “We’re very interested in making sure we’re involved in getting grants to improve circulation around schools,” Watt said.

The county also has a Traffic Advisory Committee which reviews requests for speed limit changes, traffic signals, control signs, and other regulatory matters.The public presentations at the TAC meetings do not have a time limit, allowing for more specific descriptions of problems.

The Department of Public Works incurred some damage due to the rains but avoided other problems.“We had very few problems on our 2,000 miles of road related to potholes, related to culvert maintenance,” Watt said.

The county’s problems include the suspension of Proposition 42 funds, or gasoline sales tax revenue dedicated to transportation unless the state legislature declares a fiscal emergency and suspends Prop. 42 funding. The loss of Prop. 42 funds costs the county approximately $8 million each year, and the availability of the funds allows programs such as chip sealing and overlay for more than 350 miles of roads.“We certainly like that money coming in,” Watt said.

Assemblyman George Plescia has introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to close the suspension loophole in Prop. 42 funds.Another piece of State Assembly legislation would allow for the option of four ten-hour work days without required overtime pay.

In addition to the UCSD presentation on the university’s traffic management program (which includes the UCSD hospital in Hillcrest along with the La Jolla campus), Qualcomm human resources manager Dave Beadle also spoke of the efforts of one of the county’s largest private employers.Qualcomm’s congestion relief program also