Work Begins on $60-Million Extension of Highway 52

Construction began Friday to extend California Highway 52 from Interstate 805 east to Tierrasanta. The $60-million project will link Interstate 805 to Santo Road in Tierrasanta by 1988, Caltrans spokesman Jim Larson said.

The first section of Highway 52, spanning three miles between Interstates 5 and 805, was built in 1970. A lack of funds for the state route had delayed further construction over the years, Larson said. Interstate highways receive more federal money than state routes. For every dollar the state puts toward interstate highways, the federal government contributes $9, he said.

“It’s a better investment for the state to allocate money to the interstate highways,” Larson said.

There are three construction contracts to carry out the 5.5-mile extension, Larson said. The first contract, handled by the Daley Corp. will extend the route to Convoy Street in the Kearny Mesa area. The other two contracts will be up for bid this winter and next spring, he added.

The Mission Valley area of Interstate 8 is the county’s “critical point” for traffic, carrying 230,000 cars a day, Larson said. He estimated that 25% of the traffic from that stretch of freeway will be diverted to the new part of Highway 52.

Three years ago, Caltrans had the money to make the extension but the project was halted after an environmental group protested the scheduled construction, saying an endangered plant, the mesa mint, grew in the area. The plant reportedly grows only in San Diego County and an area in South Africa, Larson said.

Caltrans purchased a small piece of land in San Diego where the mesa mint existed and turned it over to the environmental group to protect the plant, he said.