Jackson Drive Extension Pro, Con

The extension of Jackson Drive from Mission Gorge Road to California 52 in Mission Trails Regional Park has been a controversial project, with the pros and cons being debated in community gatherings for many months. What has disturbed me the most about these debates is the misinformation that has been bantered about by the opposition.

This extension of Jackson Drive was part of the 1960 “Proposed Fortuna Mountain-Mission Gorge Metropolitan Park” plan and has been a part of all subsequent park plans. I led the efforts to purchase Cowles Mountain in 1974, the link between the Lake Murray and Mission Gorge areas of the park, and have participated in all park development activities since.

When the 1976 master development plan for the park was adopted, there was no opposition to the extension of Jackson Drive. Nor was there any opposition when the revised plan was approved in 1985.

It has been obvious since the beginning planning stages that the extension of Jackson Drive would involve massive grading. This should not have come as a surprise to anyone who has seen the rugged terrain. Opponents have claimed that Jackson Drive was proposed as a two-lane road through the park, yet the 1976 and 1985 master development plans state that “. . . three major public highways are proposed to ultimately traverse this area of the park. (California) 52 will be extended east to form the northern park boundary; Jackson Drive, having crossed the San Diego River, will link up with the easterly extension of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and then turn north along the plateau to connect with Highway 52. . . . It should be emphasized that these are multimillion-dollar improvements to serve circulation needs in this portion of the metropolitan area. They are not park roads.”

The plan then describes the internal park roads that would be accessed from Jackson Drive. These roads would provide public access into this area of the park.

This has not been an easy issue for Councilwoman Judy McCarty, even though there was strong support for the road from the constituents of District 7. It was necessary to weigh the need for the road (an estimated 20,000 vehicle trips per day) against the environmental damage that would occur, and the cost of the road (an estimated $40 million including environmental mitigations). The opponents claimed that the road was too expensive, that the benefits did not outweigh the costs, yet these same people have not opposed an extra $10 million added to the cost of California 52 to develop a habitat area for 12 pairs of Least Bell’s Vireos in the Hollins Lake area of the park.

There will always be people who would like to see the park remain a wildlife preserve. I anticipate that the extension of Jackson Drive will be only the first of many attempts to prevent any expansion of public use of the park. I commend those on the San Diego City Council who voted to support the extension of Jackson Drive (to be renamed Mission Trails Parkway) and encourage the support of the entire council as we move forward to implement the master plan.

DOROTHY LEONARD, San Diego