Caltrans Will Send Out Flyers Warning of Migrants’ Attempts to Cross Freeway

In an attempt to stop the growing number of pedestrian deaths along an 8-mile stretch of Interstate 5, the California Department of Transportation will enclose flyers with utility bills to alert people to the problem.

Caltrans’ San Diego district director, Jesus Garcia, said Monday that 250,000 flyers will go out to utility customers during the next billing period.

The flyers, printed in English and Spanish, ask people to obey the 55-m.p.h. speed limit while driving along the stretch of I-5 between Las Pulgas and Basilone roads north of Oceanside. It includes a picture of signs posted along the freeway that warn drivers of the presence of pedestrians, as well as a map of the areas where most of the accidents have occurred.

Fifteen undocumented immigrants were killed along the stretch of road during 1990, breaking the 1989 record of 14. At least nine others were injured last year when they attempted to cross the freeway.

The deaths occur when the immigrants, usually from Mexico and Central America, try to avoid the U.S. Border Patrol’s San Clemente checkpoint. Smugglers often drop immigrants off along the freeway, leaving them to cross the eight lanes of traffic, sometimes twice, in order to go around the checkpoint.

The most recent deaths occurred Christmas Eve, when a 37-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl were struck by a southbound car.

Garcia said the flyers are another step in trying to make the public aware of the problem.

“The motivation is very, very strong,” he said. “We are trying to get people in the San Diego area familiar with the problem.”

He said Caltrans will also work to make immigrants aware of the dangers by putting out flyers in bus depots and other areas on the Mexican side of the border where they congregate before attempting to make their way north.

He also said it will take another two years to complete a chain-link fence along the median of I-5, now in the design stages. The fence will be 7 to 10 feet high and will resemble a center divider, with wooden posts and rails the first 3 feet off the ground and chain link with a mesh too small to allow a foothold for the remainder.

Garcia said the hope is that migrants will be discouraged from attempting to reach the median when they see the makeup of the fence.

James L. Larson, spokesman for the San Diego Caltrans office, said the agency had 500,000 flyers printed at a cost of $8,000. He said the first 250,000 flyers will be included with water bills.