For the past four decades, proponents of a new freeway in South Bay have been facing gridlock on two fronts , traffic congestion throughout the region and inaction from the state and federal officials.
Now that they’ve lined up approvals from dozens of transportation and environmental agencies, the entire project may be shut down by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Daniel Hom, co-chair of the Citizens for 125 campaign, expressed anger with the EPA, which ruled South Bay residents are not facing enough congestion in the region to warrant a project of such scope as construction of Highway 125.
Hom and other supporters of the freeway will be flying to Washington, D.C., on Dec. 12 to meet with San Diego’s representatives in Congress for action.
Highway supporters plan to meet with members of the EPA and the Federal Highway Administration to state their case. Hom will bring a petition of 7,000 signatures from South Bay residents, all demanding the freeway be built. Hom and fellow supporters gathered that many signatures in 40 days, he said.
The 25-mile freeway is being built in segments, with about half of it already open or under construction. Funding for the remaining 11 & #733; miles , from Highway 54 south to Otay Mesa Road, has already been approved, but the project is being held up, Hom said.
This comes even though several agencies had already approved the highway. The cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, the California Department of Transportation, California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Transportation have all approved the highway, he said.
Reduce Congestion
Completion of the freeway would reduce time spent on local roads by 70 percent by easing congestion for South Bay residents and providing an alternative route to travel north and south, Hom said.
Other benefits include reduced fuel consumption costs, cleaner air and increased safety that comes with reduced congestion. Also, the deal to get the highway built includes vernal pools and wetland habitat set-asides for environmental mitigation, Hom said.
Tom Nipper, spokesman for Caltrans, said SR 125 was a “critical part” of the transportation plan.
“Anybody who goes down through the South Bay area will see all the development happening in the east side of Chula Vista and Bonita, all the way down to the border. Not only that development, but the increase in truck traffic across the border, means that 805 will become more and more congested unless we provide some relief,” he said.
Development On Hold
All environmental concerns had been addressed in the review process, Nipper added. The alignment of the freeway , chosen from among 17 possible layouts , balances preserving the environment with providing the needed service.
Alejandra Mier y Teran, executive director of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce, said much development in the area is on hold, as people wait for Highway 125 to be built.
“Otay Mesa is growing; this is actually our record year. And all this growth is limited, because everybody’s waiting for 125 and 905. With 125, a lot of people started believing it would come in five, six, seven years ago; then they said, ‘Once we see they’re starting to grade, then we’ll believe them,'” she said.
Add to that the commercial trucks crossing the border. Rather than increase congestion along Interstate 805, SR 125 would be an alternate route north to Los Angeles. And that would make the region more competitive, Mier y Teran said.
“Border trade infrastructure is lacking in this area,” she said. “(With 125), companies can locate here because their means of transportation are easier. That’s one of the main variables of deciding where to locate.”
This, in turn, would bring more employment into the area, Mier y Teran said.
Contractor Frustrated
Building 125 would also be a boon for Otay employees. Many of them live in Chula Vista , five miles north as the crow flies. But instead, they have to go miles out of their way as they travel between home and work, she said.
Kent Olsen, president of California Transportation Ventures, is also frustrated by the delays. His private firm had contracted with Caltrans to build the freeway.
“Without the EPA, we’d already be under construction,” he said.
CTV has worked on the environmental process for the past five years. At each turn, the EPA put up roadblocks, citing fears of urban sprawl and the highway crossing through wetlands, Olsen said.
“The Federal Highway Administration, I thought, bent over backwards to meet all of the requirements that the EPA imposed on them and did a lot of extra studies requested by the EPA to produce a very thorough environmental impact statement,” he said.
Once the environmental report was approved, CTV went out for bids and brought a contractor on board, only to be stopped yet again, Olsen said.
“The project has been approved by every federal agency except the EPA,” he said.
Olsen and CTV will not be traveling to Washington with members of Citizens for 125. That’s a separate organization, Olsen said.
“We haven’t been involved with them,” he said. “We’re pleased to see them. It’s too bad that it took delays like this to stir up the public opinion that they needed to form a support group, but I can sure understand their frustration. We’re very frustrated, too.”
