SANDAG approves TransNet early action program for Hwy 76

The San Diego Association of Governments has approved the draft early action program for the TransNet extension, and the widening of State Route 76 to Interstate 15 has been designated a Tier 1 project.

SANDAG’s board voted 16-0 to adopt the early action plan January 28. La Mesa and Imperial Beach did not have a SANDAG representative present, and Chula Vista’s Steve Padilla would have voted in support had his voting button been working properly.

“The action taken here today will fulfill our obligation to the people of San Diego County in making sure we get these projects done,” said Joe Kellejian, who is SANDAG’s Transportation Committee chair as well as the Solana Beach representative to the SANDAG board.

In the November 2004 election the TransNet sales tax extension received the necessary two-thirds support to extend the sales tax through 2048. Although the extension itself will not be in effect until the original TransNet tax expires in 2008, the approval of the sales tax allows SANDAG to issue bonds backed by the future sales tax revenue stream.

The vote authorizes SANDAG staff to proceed on the identified early action projects. Funding needs will be identified and a specific list of projects will be submitted to the board at their February 25 meeting as an amendment to the Regional Transportation Improvement Program. The approval of the early action program allows staff to begin developing detailed financial strategies and schedules to advance the early action projects and programs.

“The stars are lined up for us, in my opinion,” said Ron Morrison, a former SANDAG chair and National City’s SANDAG representative. “This is very exciting and something I think will put SANDAG on the map for innovative construction projects.”

Kellejian notes that the county’s voters passed the TransNet extension in order to obtain traffic congestion relief. “The people of San Diego County wanted congestion relief,” he said. “They wanted congestion relief now, not years from now.”

The three Tier 1 projects are the first priority TransNet projects which remain uncompleted from the original TransNet program passed by the county’s voters in November 1987. The widening of State Route 76 between Melrose Drive in Oceanside and Interstate 15 is one of those projects. The other two Tier 1 projects are the extension of State Route 52 between State Route 125 and State Route 67 and the completion of the Mid-Coast trolley line in San Diego from Old Town to the Golden Triangle area. Proposition A, which extended the TransNet program, specified that those three projects should receive priority treatment for implementation.

“Route 76 is our first Tier 1 project,” said Jack Boda, SANDAG’s department director for mobility management and project implementation.

SANDAG designates the funding for San Diego County’s Interstate and state highway projects, but Caltrans is responsible for the actual work. “Our intent is to keep them focused on this segment,” Boda said.

Tier 2 includes four projects on corridors already under construction or ready for construction. Those projects include the environmental efforts on the Interstate 805 corridor and the Interstate 5 North Coast Corridor (from the merge with Interstate 805 to the intersection with State Route 76 in Oceanside) along with managed lanes on Interstate 15 between State Routes 163 and 78 and high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Highway 52 between Interstate 15 and State Route 125.

The Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects will be implemented simultaneously. “We’re preparing to move all of those at the same time,” said SANDAG executive director Gary Gallegos.

The early implementation will translate into earlier completion. “Transportation projects take several years to design and construct,” Boda said.

Although Caltrans will be handling the construction work and right-of-way acquisition, SANDAG’s funding allows the use of consultants to expedite design and environmental studies. “We want to have the flexibility of working with Caltrans and also having side-by-side consultants,” Boda said.

“We will need the help of the consultants,” said Pedro Orso Delgado, Caltrans’ District 11 director. “Together we will come up with a plan.”

Orso Delgado concurred that the consultants would allow Caltrans to accomplish more tasks. “We are doing as much as we can,” he said. “We’re very excited about this.”

The early action plan also includes advancing the environmental mitigation program which will expedite the process for the early action projects. SANDAG staff will begin discussions with resource agencies and permit holders to establish habitat plan coverage for the early action projects and hopes to negotiate initial agreements in 2005. The environmental mitigation program includes $650 million for direct impacts and $200 million for economic benefits.

“This has created what all of us need,” said Oceanside City Councilman and SANDAG representative Jack Feller. “I can’t thank this group and voters enough for Highway 76.”

Feller also noted benefits to transit, specifically improved on-time performance due to reduced congestion. “Buses are vehicles, too,” he said.

County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, who represents the county’s unincorporated areas on the SANDAG board, noted that the county’s identification of the San Luis Rey River Park in conjunction with a potential alignment of the widened Highway 76 allows for environmental mitigation to be used for that project. “I think that it would be logical to do mitigation in the general area of where the road is going to be constructed,” she said.

Slater-Price also inquired about removing the stoplights from the Oceanside segment of Highway 76, but Gallegos noted the financial constraints of purchasing access rights for a grade separation.

The original motion called for the north and south phases of Interstate 805 to become Tier 2 projects (the north phase is between State Route 52 and the northern end while the south phase is between State Route 94 in San Diego and Telegraph Canyon Road in Chula Vista), but an amendment by San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy changed the program to cover the entire Interstate 805 corridor provided that the environmental work for the portion between Highways 94 and 52 does not delay the easier two segments. Slater-Price initially expressed concern that the extra work for the Interstate 805 corridor would adversely affect staff time to work on Highway 76, but Gallegos assured her that the use of consultants would not allow that to happen.

“Through a combination of consultants, Caltrans staff, and our own staff, we should be able to stretch or shrink that,” Gallegos said.

Brad Barnum, the director of government relations for the San Diego chapter of Associated General Contractors of America, noted that his small contractors understood that large-scale projects requiring larger contracting firms would allow more efficient construction of some projects. Barnum also expressed AGC’s support for the early implementation program.

“Good news for all of us today,” Barnum said. “We’re ready to move forward.”