SANDAG adopts RTP update

The update of the county's Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) was approved by a 19-0 San Diego Association of Governments board vote Oct. 9.

The update anticipates spending approximately $203.8 billion of expenditure-year dollars for highway, transit, rail, and bicycle projects. The revenue includes projections of anticipated federal, state, local and private funds from existing and reasonably available future sources. The revenue projections account for growth assumptions and potential new funding sources consistent with historical funding trends.

"This is a balanced plan. It provides a lot of transportation choices," said San Diego City Council member Lorie Zapf.

"The result is creating a balanced plan that works for an entire region, not just part of it," said SANDAG director of land use and transportation planning Muggs Stoll.

"This plan is about connecting our communities with better mobility choices," said RTP project manager Phil Trom.

"It's a plan and it's also a sustainable community strategy," Trom said. "It has been prepared to meet the needs of the San Diego region through the year 2050."

Federal law requires a region which receives federal funding for transportation projects to update its long-range regional transportation plan every four years. The 2011 revenue-constrained RTP had projected expenditures of $213.8 billion including $197 billion between 2014 and 2050.

The half-cent TransNet sales tax for transportation was originally approved by the county's voters in November 1987, and in November 2004 the voters approved a 40-year extension through 2048. The federal forecast requirement is only for 20 years, but because the TransNet tax will be collected through 2048

SANDAG approved an RTP through 2050 in October 2011.

The 2011 adoption of the plan through 2050 meant that few changes for specific projects were needed for the update, so the 2015 plan focuses on implementation.

The 2011 plan did not include timeframes for projects which had not yet begun while 2015 update provided phasing information.

SANDAG staff developed two scenarios for the draft revenue-constrained RTP update, and in September 2014 the SANDAG board adopted a hybrid of the two scenarios as the preferred option to be analyzed in the environmental review process.

The differences in the two scenarios primarily involved express light rail service versus expanded bus rapid service and the phasing of freeway managed lanes. One scenario called for "express" Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit District light rail lines to provide commuters with non-stop connections while also adding new light rail service in more densely populated areas.

The other scenario included more light rail lines but replaced the express light rail service with more widespread rapid bus service, including rapid bus service from Camp Pendleton to Carlsbad Village scheduled for 2036-50 in that scenario but not included in the express rail service scenario.

The first scenario added two managed lanes along the Interstate 5 and I-805 corridors in an earlier phase with two additional managed lanes being added later; the second scenario added all four managed lanes at once while delaying additional managed lanes for State Route 78. The blended scenario features the rapid bus service but also adds the freeway managed lanes in phases.

"We need all our modes to work for all our residents," said San Marcos City Council member Chris Orlando.

"A balanced approach is best for all of San Diego County, specifically for North County," said North County Transit District board chair and Carlsbad City Council member Mark Packard. "Our goal is to do the most good for the most people."

The SANDAG board sought to balance transit options with road capacity improvements. "You know it's a good plan when everybody doesn't get everything they want," said County Supervisor Bill Horn, who is one of two County of San Diego representatives on the SANDAG board. "I think it's a good plan."

Ron Roberts is the other county supervisor on the SANDAG board. "This plan is solid," Roberts said.

Roberts is also the county's representative on the Metropolitan Transit System board but noted that roads are needed for truck traffic. "We can't do that with bicycles and we can't do that with light rail," he said.

"We need transportation and good roads. We need things out there in the backcountry," said San Pasqual tribal chair Allen Lawson, who is the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association representative at SANDAG board meetings.

"Transportation is something that we need," Lawson said. "It's a very good plan."

The RTP includes privately-funded toll roads as well as highway, transit, and rail projects which would require publicly-funded revenue. The State Route 241 toll road between Orange County and Interstate 5 is part of the RTP, as are adding four toll lanes to the eight existing freeway lanes of Interstate 5 between Vandegrift Boulevard and the Orange County line and adding four toll lanes to the eight Interstate 15 freeway lanes between State Route 78 and the Riverside County border.

The State Route 241 schedule anticipates the $598 million construction of six toll lanes during the 2020-35 period. The I-5 and I-15 toll lanes are scheduled for the 2036-50 time period. The I-5 toll lanes have an expenditure-year cost estimate of $4.496 billion and the I-15 toll lanes have a cost estimate of $2.554 billion.

The $305 million widening of State Route 76 from two lanes to four between South Mission Road and Interstate 15 is fully funded. Construction is expected to be complete during 2017, so that is included among the 2014-20 projects. Widening Highway 76 from Interstate 15 to Couser Canyon Road has a $261 million cost estimate and is in the 2036-50 timeframe.

The transit portion of the RTP calls for Coaster improvements including extending the rail line to Camp Pendleton by 2035 (the $1.357 billion cost estimate in expenditure-year dollars also covers double-tracking, grade separation, and new platform projects), $198 million for peak rapid bus transit between Temecula and Downtown San Diego through Escondido by 2050, and $161 million for rapid bus service from Camp Pendleton to Carlsbad Village through Oceanside.

The RTP also includes a bicycle plan network. The 2036-50 projects include the San Luis Rey River Trail, which will include a path through the future San Luis Rey River Park and has a cost estimate of $100.2 million.