SANDAG modifies unconstrained RTP list

During 2015 the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) will adopt an updated Regional Transportation Plan covering highway, transit, and other transportation items through the year 2050. On Dec. 20, the SANDAG board approved modifications to the unconstrained-revenue plan, including a reduction in lanes along Interstate 5 and expanded operational improvements on State Route 76.

At the request of County Supervisor Bill Horn, who is one of two County of San Diego representatives on the SANDAG board, the motion to reduce the I-5 lanes was bifurcated from the remaining amendments. The overall package was approved on an 18-0 vote with no City of Solana Beach representative present. The passage of the vote to reduce I-5 travel lanes included representatives from El Cajon, National City, and San Marcos joining Horn in opposition.

The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) is updated every four years. SANDAG begins with an unconstrained-revenue plan before prioritizing projects and finalizing a revenue-constrained plan based on those priorities and projected funding.

The 2011 RTP began with approval of the unconstrained transportation network in 2010. The 2010 unconstrained plan included expansion of Interstate 5 from eight to 10 freeway lanes from the merge with Interstate 805 to Vandegrift Boulevard while adding four toll lanes or high-occupancy vehicle lanes between I-805 and the Orange County line.

Representatives from some North Coast Corridor communities desired only eight freeway lanes along with the four managed lanes, and the California Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration expressed a desire for the locally preferred alternative. The SANDAG staff recommendation subsequently approved by the SANDAG board took those preferences into consideration.

“If you build more lanes that’s not going to solve the problem,” said Encinitas deputy mayor Lisa Shaffer.

Oceanside city councilman Jack Feller, who is his city’s SANDAG board representative, voted for the lane reduction to facilitate the overall process. Feller noted that the additional freeway lanes could be restored in a future update. “I would love more lanes on that road as well,” Feller said.

Environmental advocates who supported a reduction in vehicle-oriented travel also recommended the use of electrified rail to reduce carbon emissions, although Feller noted that the need for carbon-free electrical generation would be at the expense of local aesthetics. “We can all get 1,000 windmills in the highest point in our cities to handle that,” he said.

The RTP includes railroad double-tracking, which would allow more frequent passenger service on Amtrak and the North County Transit District’s Coaster line as well as the Los Angeles area’s Metro system which connects Oceanside to Orange and Los Angeles counties, throughout the I-5 corridor. Double-tracking would also allow more goods to be transported by freight rail lines rather than by trucks.

“We need to improve what we have,” Horn said. “We can help both passengers and freight.”

The rail amendments to the unconstrained-revenue plan include extending Coaster service, which currently ends at Downtown San Diego’s Santa Fe Depot, to National City. The amendments also added a light rail transit line in San Diego from University Town Center to Carmel Valley. The NCTD Sprinter extension from the Escondido Transit Center to Downtown Escondido was deleted as redundant due to the inclusion of streetcar service in the plan.

The plan to expand Interstate 15 from eight to 10 freeway lanes from the merge with State Route 163 to State Route 78 was not changed, nor was the plan to add four toll or high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Interstate 15 between Highway 163 and the Riverside County line. The four additional toll lanes on Interstate 5 and Interstate 15 will be in the revenue-constrained scenario, as public funding will not be required, and the private funding also ensures that the future State Route 241 toll road between the Orange County line and I-5 will be in that scenario.

The 2010 unconstrained highway network included widening State Route 76 from four lanes to six between Interstate 5 and Mission Road and widening Highway 76 from two lanes to four between Interstate 15 and Couser Canyon Road. “We had operational improvements in the first phase of the unconstrained network,” SANDAG senior transportation planner Phil Trom said of the Highway 76 improvements east of I-15.

SANDAG has a Tribal Transportation Working Group. “They asked to extend these improvements,” Trom said.

The amendment provides for operational improvements on Highway 76 from the Pala reservation to the highway’s eastern end where it intersects with State Route 79 at Lake Henshaw.

In 2007, a Highway 76 corridor study included recommendations for the road east of Interstate 15. “These are consistent with those recommendations,” Trom said.

The extended operational improvements are also consistent with the Mobility Element of the County of San Diego’s general plan update adopted in 2011.

The improvements could include turn lanes, straightening curves, or improving shoulders.

“I think it’s something we need to address,” Horn said.

“Highway 76 has four major casinos, more than most states,” Horn said. “Most of the highway has not been planned by the State of California or by us.”

SANDAG’s other highway change is the elimination of two reversible high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Interstate 805 between State Route 54 and Interstate 905. Construction is currently under way for two HOV lanes, one in each direction, on I-805 between State Route 94 and East Palomar Street. The additional HOV lanes were deemed unnecessary due to reduced tolls on State Route 125 which are expected to increase projected traffic on that toll road. SANDAG’s only bus transit amendment to the previous unconstrained-revenue RTP is the addition of a bus rapid transit line along I-905 between the Iris Avenue trolley station and the Otay Mesa border crossing.

The 2010 unconstrained revenue plan also included peak rapid bus transit from Escondido to Riverside County, high-speed commuter rail from San Diego to Riverside County along the Interstate 15 corridor, and rapid bus service between Carlsbad and Camp Pendleton.