Life in Fast Lane Returning for I-15 Drivers

By the end of the summer, many motorists who battle rush-hour traffic on Interstate 15 will be able to detour down a futuristic path, when the county’s first reversible span of freeway opens.

With electronic sensors, changeable message signs, pneumatic pylons and cellular phones all designed to keep traffic flowing smoothly, the state Department of Transportation expects the $30-million, high-occupancy vehicle expressway (or HOV) to alleviate bottleneck traffic on I-15.

“It’s a very unique system,” Jack Grasberger, chief deputy district director for Caltrans, said at Caltrans San Diego headquarters in Old Town. “There are other reversible expressways, but none designed like this one. We don’t foresee any major problems with this system, maybe some mechanical ones. But those could easily be rectified by computer, or manually.”

The two, 12-foot-wide lanes will run eight miles from North City Parkway to Kearny Mesa Road, between I-15’s northbound and southbound lanes. The lanes will be open to southbound commuters from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., then close for five hours, and reopen for northbound travelers from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Thirty-inch-high concrete barriers will line the new freeway, separating the HOV lanes from I-15. When the lanes are open, motorists can enter the expressway by bridged ramps at each end. Overhead flashing signs will alert motorists when the lanes are open, and only carpool vehicles with two or more people, buses and motorcycles will be able to use the expressway.

The whole system is designed to work automatically. Electronic sensors placed under the pavement will detect vehicles that are approaching or leaving the HOV. Plastic pylons, located at each entrance, will drop below the surface when the expressway opens and then pop up when it closes.

In case of emergencies, there is a backup generator that can turn the system on or off. Service technicians will be at monitoring stations housed at either end of the expressway. The expressway will also be monitored at Caltrans’ Old Town operation center.

“We think everything should work smoothly as long a potential users of the HOV are educated,” said Shirley Weber, Caltran’s public affairs officer. “We’ve already been making presentations around the city, the Lion’s Club, the Kiwanis Club and several schools around North County. We’re working with Ridesharing, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Highway Patrol.”

Caltrans is in the process of developing brochures which will contain a map of the expressway and I-15. It will also tell people the rules, hours and how to use the expressway from the north and south ends.

The HOV has a total capacity of 4,000 cars an hour, but Grasberger expects only 800 to 1,000 motorists to use it when it first opens. Grasberger said the expressway could save drivers up to 18 minutes during the freeway’s peak hours.

“The great thing about this system is that it can be opened to bypass a detour,” Grasberger said. “When the freeway is completely blocked or shut down, we can put all the traffic on the expressway. It might be congested, but at least traffic will move.”