Stay Tuned for the Latest on California 7

It will be one of the weakest radio signals in San Diego County when 530-AM goes on the air in a month or so--but it’s expected to pull in strong ratings from motorists along beleaguered California 78 between Oceanside and Escondido.

That’s because what 530-AM will lack in music and banter will be more than offset by relevant and timely traffic information.

The frequency will offer nonstop information about traffic congestion and current and future highway construction projects, giving travelers along 78 a last-minute chance to find a quick detour if the news is bad, or the bittersweet knowledge of why they’re stuck in traffic, or warning of when to avoid the highway in the future.

The project to put 530-AM on the air was the idea of a grass-roots public agency called, none too briefly, the San Diego North County Transportation Management Assn.

Sending its message out from three transmitting stations along the 20-mile-long highway, 530-AM will be the only such public radio service in San Diego County, according to Caltrans officials.

“We think it’s great,” said Jim Larson, a Caltrans spokesman in San Diego.

Caltrans plans to start its own 530-AM highway radio system along Interstates 5 and 805 near the U.S.-Mexican border later this year. By the end of the decade, Larson said, every stretch of freeway in San Diego County should be covered with direct radio advice to motorists who tune in 530-AM.

The 530-AM frequency is reserved for government use and is in common use elsewhere--including congested freeways in Orange County, inside the Los Angeles International Airport terminal complex and even at some national parks, where tourists can tune in for sightseeing information.

But, in San Diego County, it took the efforts of a one-time citizens’ advisory group to bring 530-AM to fruition.

The group, known as the North County Transportation Coalition, was formed several years ago by civic leaders and politicians to lobby for federal funds to widen California 78, a four-lane stretch that was built about 30 years ago to connect Oceanside to Escondido.

With North County’s furious growth, efforts started in the 1970s to widen the highway to six lanes, and the Transportation Coalition succeeded, with the help of U.S. Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), in winning federal money for the project.

That $38.6-million widening is under way and expected to be completed in 1992.

But construction has aggravated already congested traffic along 78, and the San Diego Assn. of Governments asked the North County Transportation Coalition to form, within its ranks, the Transportation Management Assn. to win still more funding to work on traffic reduction projects.

With Sandag’s assistance, the new group won a $1.2-million, three-year grant from the federal Urban Mass Transit Administration last summer, and planning started to help motorists along 78. Among the projects is an extensive public relations and marketing campaign to encourage major employers in North County to set up van pools, car pooling and flexible work hours to reduce the traffic on 78 during peak hours.

Another project was to establish 530-AM along 78, said Fred Mrak, the agency’s director.

The radio signal can travel about 8 miles, Mrak said, and will be emitted from three points, distanced so that motorists approaching 78 from either I-5 or I-15 can learn what’s ahead before committing themselves to the highway.

The 24-hour-a-day transmissions will play a six-minute digitized voice tape that will play over and over again--and which can be updated by highway authorities, such as Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol, as situations warrant, Mrak said.

“The tape will give such information as traffic conditions, lane closures, ramp closures and information on future construction projects in case motorists want to plan accordingly,” Mrak said.

Officials had planned to begin transmissions in February, but difficulty getting power and telephone lines to the three transmitters delayed the start. The system is now expected to start sometime before the end of May, Mrak said.

Cost of the radio system equipment is about $30,000, but total costs are unknown until the problem of stringing telephone and power lines to the three transmitting points is resolved.

Because it is a government-dedicated radio frequency, there will be no advertising, Mrak said.

Whose voice will be heard?

“We don’t know yet, but we’re sure it’ll be someone that the people will be anxious to hear,” he said.