S.D. City Council Puts Up Yet Another Pomerado Road Detour

San Diego City Council members authorized yet another legal maneuver Tuesday to delay the re-opening of Pomerado Road to through traffic.

Deputy City Atty. Les Girard said that he was authorized by the council to petition the 4th District Court of Appeal for a rehearing or a revision of its opinion issued last week ordering San Diego to reopen the road immediately.

In response, Poway City Council members held a closed-door session Tuesday night to plot “political and legal strategy” in their fight to reopen the road, which serves as a commuter shortcut for much of inland North County.

Poway Mayor Jan Goldsmith urged San Diego to abide by the order to reopen Pomerado and announced that two of San Diego’s northern suburbs--Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Penasquitos--have joined with Poway in the effort to reopen the road. Community planning groups in both suburbs have voted unanimously in favor of reopening the road, Goldsmith said.

“I understand why groups in Scripps Ranch want Pomerado Road to remain closed,” Goldsmith said, pointing out that traffic from California 67 into Poway from the northeast has increased at the rate of 50% a year. “But, simply closing one regional road (Pomerado) to protect one community is no solution.”

Scripps Ranch, an upscale estate community, lies at the southwestern terminus of Pomerado at Interstate 15. The road was closed 2 1/2 years ago by San Diego for reconstruction to bring it up to city safety standards. After the roadwork was completed and the road remained closed, Poway filed suit against San Diego to force its reopening. The issue has been in the courts ever since.