The “freeway without a middle” is $25 million closer to getting a center. State Route 56 will connect Interstate 5 and Interstate 15 by the year 2004.
Local officials hailed the news that Gov. Gray Davis approved a spending bill earlier this month. The bill releases an additional $25 million in state funds toward the completion of the long stalled Highway 56 project.
With that money added to the $115 million already raised for the project, that might or might not be enough to complete the project. Backers of Highway 56 will find out the full cost in October, based on the evaluation of the cost of land in the area, said Lisa Ross, chairwoman of the Highway 56 Task Force.
The city of San Diego must negotiate prices with the owners of almost two dozen parcels, and that could push up the cost of the road by an unspecified amount, Ross said.
“Nobody knows,” Ross said. “It could be as high as $10 million more. But it certainly goes a long way to getting Highway 56 completed.”
For San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Warden’s office, the added funds couldn’t have come a moment too soon. Warden had been fighting for Highway 56 ever since she came into office eight years ago; now that she’s leaving office due to term limits, it still isn’t done, said Warden spokesman Tom Daglish.
Still, backers of Highway 56 managed to overcome a number of obstacles, including environmental concerns, lawsuits and “NIMBYism” to get the project approved, he said.
Multiple Benefits
Once completed, the highway will have a number of benefits, including taking traffic off I-15. The population has boomed in the northeast portion of the city, and even as far away as Temecula as residents come in to work. But a choice of another route to get to work will help reduce traffic snarls along I-15, he said.
Residents along Mira Mesa Boulevard will also benefit. The strongest local job creation area is in Sorrento Valley near Interstates 5 and 805, but I-15 commuters have no convenient connection. That means massive traffic congestion along Mira Mesa Boulevard and side streets , congestion that will be significantly reduced once Highway 56 opens to through traffic, Daglish said.
Daglish said the reduction in traffic congestion will result in less air pollution from automobiles stuck in traffic.
Overall, Highway 56 will be a boon to the people on the north side of the city, Daglish said.
“The residents have wanted this for so long, and it’s been such a crucial part of the transportation plan in the north city, I think they deserve to get it as quickly as possible,” he said.
Project Divided Into Two Parts
Scott Maloni echoed that sentiment. As a spokesman for Pardee Construction Co., he noted that the developer has thousands of homes in Carmel Valley , right where Highway 56 is. These homeowners need to get to and from work, and having the road there will make it a lot easier, he said.
Work to complete the road is divided in two projects, which will bring the two ends of the highway together. Funding for the two projects comes from the city of San Diego, the county, the Transnet tax, and state money, said Joe Hull, project manager for Caltrans.
One of the two projects began construction in January. The Black Mountain Road project , currently being constructed by the city , will extend the eastern portion of Highway 56 one mile or so to the west from the intersection with Black Mountain Road, Daglish said.
There, Highway 56 will intersect with Camino Ruiz, which will be extended northward from the portion of Camino Ruiz that already exists in Rancho Pe & #324;asquitos. It will not connect with the portion of Camino Ruiz in Mira Mesa, Daglish said.
The Black Mountain Road project is expected to be completed by June 2002. The project is on time and on budget, he said.
The aptly named “56 Middle” project, scheduled to be built by Caltrans, will extend Highway 56 from Camino Ruiz about four miles to Carmel Country Road, where it will link up with the existing westward stretch of the road that connects with Interstate 5. That part of the extension should be completed in 2004, Hull said.
Congestion Relief
The completion of Highway 56 will alleviate traffic along I-15, since commuters traveling south in the morning will have another alternative to getting to Interstate 5. The same is true of drivers heading north on the return trip, he said.
Traffic along I-5, meanwhile, will be alleviated by a separate project. By 2004, a “dual highway” will be built providing access to Highway 56, adjacent to the main lanes at the I-5/805 merge.
That will make it easier for traffic to travel between Highway 56 and the area just south of the merge, both northbound and southbound, without having to deal with the merge itself, Hull said.
