San Diego
Of the thousands of highway railroad crossings in the state, the Miramar Road overpass, which crosses the Santa Fe railroad track, has been given top priority for receiving state-funded improvements, according to a statewide list compiled by the Public Utilities Commission.
The Miramar overpass proposal involves widening the existing four-lane highway to six lanes to eliminate a bottleneck that causes daily traffic jams. San Diego traffic planner Eric Pearson said safety considerations were not a major factor in applying for the highway improvement.
Cities, counties and the California Department of Transportation nominate projects annually that compete for $15 million in state funding for railroad crossings. The commission’s listing is based on the amount of daily traffic moving through a crossing, accident histories, the number of school buses and emergency vehicles routed past the crossing, and the estimated cost of the improvement.
The high volume of both automobile and train traffic through the Miramar Road rail crossing and and the relatively low construction cost for the improvement --$600,000--gave the San Diego crossing top priority. Construction is scheduled for 1986.
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