Jackson Drive to Remain a Dead-End : Traffic: Council officially scuttles the disputed road extension through Mission Trails Regional Park.

The much-debated proposal to extend Jackson Drive through Mission Trails Regional Park was killed Monday when funding for the project was dropped by the San Diego City Council.

The council’s 6-2 vote doomed the project that was left moribund in December, when a San Diego Superior Court judge issued an injunction limiting the city’s action on the roadway to applying for federal permits.

Opponents obtained the injunction after convincing the judge that building the 2.4-mile extension through the 5,740-acre urban park would be environmentally damaging. Both Judge Jeffrey Miller and opponents argued the project was so environmentally sensitive that it was unlikely to receive the approval of federal officials.

The proposed four-lane roadway would have linked Jackson Drive north from La Mesa, to California 52 in the 7th Council District, represented by Councilwoman Judy McCarty, the project’s principal supporter.

On Monday, opponents repeated environmental warnings and argued that pursuing a project that was not likely to be backed by federal officials was a waste of taxpayer funds. Opponents estimated that the city has already spent $2 million on the project, whose cost was estimated between $51 million and $90 million.

In addition, council members who voted Monday to kill the project objected because the road would tie up 20.7% of Proposition A transportation funds until 2002. Council opposition picked up steam when opponents used figures provided by the city manager’s office to show that McCarty’s district would receive 38.44% of all Proposition A funds over the next 10 years if the Jackson Drive extension was approved.

City officials estimate the city will receive about $143.4 in Proposition A funds from 1993 to 1999.

Proposition A, passed by San Diego County voters in November, 1987, authorized a one-half cent increase in the sales tax for 20 years to fund local transportation projects.

McCarty pushed hard for approval of the Jackson Drive extension until the last minute, even though it was evident before Monday’s vote that the roadway was doomed. Afterward, she expressed disappointment.

“The vote effectively killed Jackson Drive. . . . This was our chance at the brass ring, and we lost it. I’m quite disappointed today,” McCarty said. “This was considered a priority by residents of my district. District 7 has immense traffic problems.”

Supporters of the project said it was needed to reduce congestion on streets leading to Interstates 8 and 15.

Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer led the council opposition to the project. Wolfsheimer, who angrily accused McCarty of falsely suggesting that she had been a supporter of the project, offered a motion to delete the Jackson Drive project from the city’s General Plan and reallocate the funds among the city’s other seven council districts.

The Jackson Drive extension had been a part of the General Plan since 1960 and had also been incorporated in the master plan for the Mission Trails Regional Park and the community plans for Tierrasanta and Navajo area.

Now that the project is dead, McCarty said the only remaining alternative is to push ahead with plans to widen Mission Gorge Road to six lanes, where it winds through San Carlos and Allied Gardens.

The council’s Transportation and Land Use Committee will begin debating suggestions on how to reallocate the Jackson Drive funds at a meeting Wednesday. The City Council is expected to vote on the proposals within 30 days.

Mayor Maureen O’Connor was busy preparing for her State of the City address and did not participate in Monday’s vote. Councilman Bob Filner joined McCarty in supporting the project.