Is California 78 Expansion in the Fast Lane at Last? : Packard Proposal Calls for Cities to Help Pay for Two New Lanes

Each morning, at 6:15 or shortly thereafter, Doug Yavanian slips behind the wheel of a shiny black Mazda RX-7 and braces himself for his daily duel with: The Highway.

An Escondido resident who works as executive vice president of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, Yavanian’s commute to the coast along California 78 is perhaps the most unenviable drive in North County. Seventeen miles long, the trek requires coordination, quick reflexes and a healthy measure of derring-do.

But more than anything, negotiating the four-lane highway demands patience: “We go so slow, I’ve gotten to meet a lot of folks,” Yavanian said, half-seriously.

On a good day, the drive takes Yavanian about 25 minutes; on a bad day, it’s double that. If an accident occurs--and they occur often on 78--drivers can stop dead for an hour or more.

No dummy, Yavanian tunes into traffic reports before leaving or heading home, and alters his commute route accordingly.

“If 78 is bad, I’ll go another way for my own sanity,” he said. “Sometimes, in fact, I’ll take back roads and go all the way through Rancho Santa Fe just to avoid the traffic.”

Once an inviting, meandering route through the bucolic heart of North County, California 78 in recent years has become, say those who drive it daily, a 17-mile-long parking lot.

As colleges, hospitals, industrial parks and sprawling subdivisions have sprouted along the rolling hills and agricultural fields that once framed the highway, the number of cars traveling the route has soared, peaking at nearly 80,000 on an average weekday.

By the year 2005, the San Diego Assn. of Governments (Sandag) predicts that number will climb to 112,000, producing what one transportation planner called “total gridlock” on a roadway designed to carry 65,000 cars per day at most.

The accident rate on the narrow, hilly highway--the only major east-west artery in North County--has risen with equally alarming speed, prompting some to dub it “slaughter alley.” California Highway Patrol officials said that “reportable accidents,” those causing injuries or fatalities, are up 30% over last year, and the number of collisions is also climbing.

“Highway 78 is beyond its time, and it’s a mess,” said CHP Capt. Keith Newman, commander of the patrol’s North County office. “There are far too many accidents occurring out there, and, frankly, we just can’t keep up.”

Historically, commuters and officials in North County have grumbled about the highway and lobbied for needed improvements with little success. The state Department of Transportation had other priorities for its limited funds; any enhancement of 78, locals were told, would have to wait.

But now, a plan to widen the highway from four to six lanes is afoot and gaining steam. The proposal by Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) would blend federal, state and local funds to finance the project, estimated to cost$29.5 million.

Under Packard’s plan, contained in a major bill scheduled for a congressional hearing this fall, California 78 would be declared a “demonstration project,” thereby making it eligible for federal highway funds.

About $12 million for the construction, which could start as early as 1988, would come from federal coffers. The state would pay half of the balance while the county and five cities--Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside and Carlsbad--would come up with the rest; Sandag has computed each jurisdiction’s fair share of the cost according to population and comparable use of the highway.

Sounds intriguing, and locals like Yavanian who have long sought a solution to the highway’s traffic woes believe the Packard plan may be it. But several factors have cloaked the proposal in uncertainty.

Chief among these is the ability of several of the North County cities to come up with their share of the funding--Vista, for example, would be charged $1.125 million--and the willingness of local officials to pay for a state highway project.

While North County leaders are unqualified and unanimous in their support for widening the highway--insisting it must be done to accommodate the present and future growth in the region--they are less than enthused about saddling their governments with the accompanying financial burden.

“It is the state’s responsibility to take care of its roads, and there is a concern that having the cities pitch in would be setting a precedent,” said Carlsbad Mayor Mary Casler, whose city would be assessed about $825,000 under the plan. “Carlsbad could find the money for the widening in its gas tax reserve, but we did have plans for those funds.”

Escondido Mayor Ernie Cowan, who once witnessed half a dozen accidents in an hour while stopped in traffic along Highway 78 on a rainy day, agreed: “I’m a little less than excited about the concept of local government paying for a state project. And at this point, I’ve got no idea where we’d get the $1.6 million to meet our share.”

In Oceanside, Councilman John MacDonald echoed that concern, though he said local leaders “must be pragmatic and realize we’re not going to get the widening unless we pitch in.”

MacDonald said that although Oceanside’s estimated $1.9-million share of the project--the highest amount assessed a local agency--”sounds fair for a city our size,” he is “not at all confident” that money is available.

“We’ve got two major projects in the millions on the burner--the pier and the civic center,” MacDonald said. “Those are top priorities and, unless the staff finds more money somewhere, I couldn’t commit Oceanside to this plan.”

Most adamant about having the state shoulder the cost of the road is Supervisor Paul Eckert, who represents much of North County.

“We need local money for local roads, and we should focus our energy on getting the state to face up to their responsibilities,” Eckert said. “I think that only as a last resort should we use our own dollars for this.

Eckert added that “North County has been denied its fair share of (state highway) funds for far too long,” and insisted that “good and convincing arguments can be made to convince a Republican administration that the state should pay for road improvements in a rock-solid Republican area.”

“Only after we have exhausted the possibilities at the state level would I ask my fellow supervisors to help fund this project,” Eckert said.

The state Transportation Commission, meanwhile, has yet to formally endorse the project. But Jack Grasberger, chief deputy district director for Caltrans in San Diego, said he is optimistic that state officials would agree to finance their share of the widening if the $12 million in federal funds was provided.

In the late 1950s, when traffic engineers were planning construction of California 78, four lanes seemed more than adequate for the area. Escondido and Oceanside, North County’s two biggest cities today, were mere specks on the map, generating little traffic and housing about 15,000 and 10,000 residents, respectively.

No other towns along the route, formerly a two-lane country road, were incorporated, and the five communities boasted a total population of about 40,000. There was only a trace of commercial and industrial development.

Given those conditions, state highway officials purchased a right-of-way wide enough for a six-lane roadway but built only four lanes, completing the $500,000-per-mile construction job after a decade of work in March, 1973.

Since the days when California 78 was conceived, however, the North County landscape has changed. Dramatically.

Industrial parks employing thousands of workers have sprung up in Carlsbad and Rancho Bernardo, while MiraCosta College and National University have joined Palomar College along the highway’s northern edge.

Tri-City Hospital was built on route 78 in Oceanside, and a huge regional mall, Plaza Camino Real, emerged just off the highway in Carlsbad. More recently, Vista became host to the 3,600-home Shadowridge Country Club and a major government and judicial complex.

Accordingly, population growth has been explosive. Bill Tuomi, a senior transportation planner at Sandag, said the most recent statistics place the combined population of the five North County cities at 275,400. By the year 2000, Sandag forecasts that number will reach 517,000--an 88% increase over the 15-year period.

The phenomenal growth has produced traffic volumes that have simply overwhelmed California 78, Caltrans officials said.

“We view it as a critical situation, and one that will only get worse,” said Grasberger, the agency’s deputy district director. “If nothing is done, traffic will be at a standstill out there by the year 2005.”

Even if the highway were widened, however, the extra lane each way will merely “help us catch up with the situation,” Grasberger said. “By 2005, traffic flow with an extra lane would be just about as it is today.”

Eventually, traffic engineers may have to contemplate double-decking the highway, like officials in the Oakland area did with busy California 17. At the very least, improvements on Palomar Airport Road and other supporting east-west routes will be necessary, Grasberger said.

Already planned is a three-mile freeway bypass to relieve congestion on the western end of California 76, just north of 78 in Oceanside. That project, expected to cost $18 million, is on the state’s five-year priority funding list. But concerns about an endangered bird, the least Bell’s vireo, threaten to delay construction.

The heavy traffic volume along 78 has created an ever-growing risk of accidents on the roadway.

“We are simply trying to carry too much traffic out there,” said the CHP’s Newman, who himself commutes to work on California 78. “From an enforcement standpoint, it’s the sheer density of the route that’s a problem. There are no bad curves, sign problems or other things we could address. It’s just the sheer mass of people using those lanes.”

To counter the mounting accident figures--there were 85 injury- or fatality-causing collisions in the first seven months of 1985, compared to 65 last year--the CHP diverts officers to the highway from other beats at peak hours.

“But it’s not working,” Newman said. “That highway is still the hot spot in North County in terms of accidents.”

Accidents in all of North County are up 8% so far this year, but the rate is up 30% on the notorious 78, Newman said.

The region’s city officials are all too aware of those statistics. In addition, many voice concerns that the highway’s reputation as a traffic nightmare may discourage industrial and commercial investment.

Looking ahead, they also express fears about the increased traffic a proposed San Diego State University campus in North County would generate.

So despite their philosophical qualms about funding a state project, three of the five city councils involved have approved Packard’s proposal in concept. Carlsbad and Oceanside will consider the matter this week. (The congressman requested the approvals, saying that without such commitments, he could not move forward with the legislation.)

“Geographically speaking, we’re in the middle, so we can’t get anywhere without driving that highway,” Vista Mayor Mike Flick said, explaining his support of the plan to widen the road. “It’s an annoyance now. But the way North County is growing, it will soon become an intolerable situation.”

Flick added, “I think we’re all gradually realizing that if the North County cities don’t come up with some kind of mutual funding arrangement, the widening of Highway 78 just flat-out won’t take place until the mid-1990s, if then.”

San Marcos City Manager Rick Gittings, whose burgeoning city would be expected to bear 11% of the cost, or $825,000, agreed. “We’ve got to do something, and soon.

“Of course, everyone knows it needs to be eight lanes, not six. But we’ll take six.”

Rep. Ron Packard’s proposal to widen California 78 from four lanes to six calls for a blend of financing from federal, state, San Diego County and city governments. It is estimated that the project will cost $29.5 million. About $12 million would come from the federal government, with the state and the cities splitting the rest. Three of the five affected city councils have approved Packard’s proposal in concept. Carlsbad and Oceanside will consider the matter this week. Here are the amounts each city would have to pay: Oceanside: $1.9 million. Escondido: $1.6 million. Vista: $1.125 million. Carlsbad: $825,000. San Marcos: $825,000.