La Jolla-Santee Route’s Final Link Approved by State Panel

State transportation officials Thursday approved the final 10-mile stretch of California 52 that will eventually link Interstate 5 in La Jolla with California 67 in Santee.

Meeting in San Francisco, the California Transportation Commission approved the project’s environmental impact statement, clearing the way for the $335-million roadway scheduled to be completed in four stages by 2003.

The proposed route will begin at Santo Road, in Tierrasanta, near Interstate 15, skirt the north side of Mission Trails County Park, before turning southeast, crossing over Mission Gorge Road, Cuyamaca Street and Magnolia Avenue to California 67. Caltrans offi cials said construction plans include interchanges at those streets and Mast Boulevard.

California 52 now runs from Interstate 5, through University City, under Interstate 805, to Interstate 15 in Tierrasanta.

Caltrans spokesman Jim Larson said construction of the freeway strip is expected to begin in the summer of 1991.

“Initially, we’re talking of getting to 125 in about five years,” Larson said. An extension of California 125 is under construction from Interstate 8 north through La Mesa, El Cajon and Santee, where it will intersect the California 52 extension.

Officials Ecstatic Over Approval

Larson said local Caltrans officials were ecstatic over the commission’s approval.

“We’re happy as a lark,” he said. “It’s been a long, drawn-out process. There has been a tremendous effort by our employees to put together this program. We’re already in the starting block.”1

Construction and approval for California 52 had progressed at a snail’s pace. The project was approved by the Legislature 30 years ago. The first segment, from Interstate 5 to Interstate 805, was approved in 1962, but it was not completed until 1970. The second segment, linking Interstate 805 with Interstate 15 and Santo Road, was approved in 1972 and opened 16 years later, in July, 1988.

Larson, noting that the final 10-mile link is not expected to be completed for another 14 years, said: “In freeway work, we look that many years ahead.”

The last major hurdle, approval of an environmental report, took five years to complete, transportation officials said. Several routes were considered before the commission narrowed the number to three alternatives, then to the final plan approved Thursday.

$150 Million for Property

Caltrans officials said about $150 million of the project’s $335-million cost will be spent on acquiring property, rights of way and resettlement costs. Another $11.7 million will go to build a 77-acre habitat in Mission Trails County Park for the least Bell’s vireo, which is on the endangered species list. The final environmental report also included a realignment of the roadway to avoid vernal pools near Santo Road.

Initial plans for the new strip call for a four-lane freeway that will eventually be widened to six lanes, Larson said. Once completed, California 52 is expected to reduce traffic on Interstate 8 by 20%. Caltrans officials said some sections of Interstate 8 now carry about 270,000 vehicles a day.

The new road is also expected to ease congestion on Mission Gorge Road and other surface streets that connect Santee and San Carlos with Interstate 15.