Groundbreaking scheduled for $40 million improvement to SR78

SAN MARCOS - Groundbreaking is scheduled today for a $40 million project that transportation planners hope will be the first step in clearing up a bottleneck on state Route 78 that has become the worst in San Diego County.

The main part of the work will be to replace the Nordahl Road overpass, which will allow the freeway to be widened near the San Marcos-Escondido city limits, said Hayden Manning of Caltrans. He said there will also be an added auxiliary lane leading to Nordahl Road.

Having more room under the over-crossing could result in future projects to add lanes, Manning said.

A study by the traffic information firm INRIX found that eastbound SR-78 through San Marcos has supplanted Interstate 15 and the Interstate 5-805 merge for having the worst freeway congestion in the county. Speeds are less than half of normal for an average of 21 hours per week, the company found.