San Diego

The San Diego City Council put off a vote Monday on whether to approve a controversial extension of Interstate 15 along 40th Street in East San Diego. Instead, it scheduled a May 14 public hearing and authorized hiring a consultant to explore ways to finance covering part of the freeway to create a community park.

The council vote was unanimous, although before the vote, Mayor Roger Hedgecock urged his colleagues to consider blocking the California Department of Transportation’s effort to finish the freeway. “If a community does not want a freeway, (communities in San Francisco and Los Angeles have) proved it doesn’t have to be built,” Hedgecock said. But the rest of the council argued that Caltrans intends to build the freeway regardless of the city’s views and urged the city to cut the best deal it can.

If the city fights the freeway, Caltrans may withdraw its offer to pay for creating a block-long, over-the-freeway park, and the community around 40th Street could remain blighted, Councilwoman Gloria McColl argued. The council must approve a freeway agreement with Caltrans by July or jeopardize state and federal funding for the project.