By David J. Harvey
SDUN Reporter

After nearly a decade of planning, the reconstruction of a 1.25-mile segment of University Avenue between Florida and Boundary streets may break ground as early as January 2012.

San Diego’s Development Services and Engineering and Capital Projects (E&CP) departments held a community forum March 24 at the North Park Rec Center to collect residents’ input for the draft Environmental Impact Report on the University Avenue Mobility Plan, which proposes several traffic calming measures along the North Park corridor of University Avenue.

The plan, scheduled to be completed in two phases, calls for transit-only lanes on both sides of University, dedicated turn lanes to prevent congestion and curb extensions and new crosswalks, as well as the removal of street parking on University and the addition of angled spots to several side streets one block north.

“The objective is to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorized traffic,” Julie Ballesteros, city engineer and project coordinator, said in her presentation.

Approximately 30 community members attended the meeting and eight took the opportunity to speak.
Among the concerns addressed were how both construction and traffic spillover will be managed.

“For both of the phases of construction it looks like about three years of construction, which is very difficult for the business community, dealing with active construction during business hours,” said Elizabeth Studebaker, executive director of North Park’s business improvement district.

Don Leichtling, a North Park resident who lives a few blocks from University Avenue, said he is concerned with traffic diverting into the neighborhoods to avoid congestion.

“I would like to see protection for the residential areas to the south of University…to prevent the infiltration of rush hour traffic through our neighborhoods,” Leichtling said.

None of the comments were addressed during the meeting, which was held for community input only, and both issues are under review by E&CP. According to Ana Maria Rojas, public information officer for the City of San Diego, the DSD is not involved in construction planning.

Rene Vidales, a civil engineer and a member of the North Park Planning Committee, said he feels the project’s timing “couldn’t be better.”

“North Park is in transition right now and all the new businesses opening up are generating more traffic and parking issues,” he said. “Part of the reason you have a mobility plan is for traffic calming purposes, so that people don’t speed up too much.”

Vidales added that most of the concerns are coming from people who live immediately adjacent to the project area (he lives one block north of University himself), but that those are a minority of the people affected.

“I tend to look more at the overall concerns than just the people that are living next door,” he said. “Of course you need to consider them, and that’s why you have traffic calming measures incorporated into the plan.”

According to Roger Lewis, who was a member of the mobility plan’s steering committee, the lack of change may be the reason some community members may feel this project is coming out of nowhere.

“The public review process and the design process have already occurred, and it’s unfortunate that it has taken so long to get through the development phase,” Lewis said. “Some people are complaining that the community isn’t aware of [the mobility plan] but in the community process that took place [in 2004] when we were actually developing the plan there were well publicized meetings, public input and the plan was well known.”

The project, expected to cost $3.37 million for phase one and $4.84 million for phase two, still lacks full funding.

However, with phase two not scheduled to begin until January 2015, Lewis said it’s unclear if the money will be available or the project will require further delays.

“Funding is always an issue,” he said. “There may be the possibility that at that time funding might actually be available. Funding is always a concern – it’s kind of a crap shoot.”

After collecting public input and conducting technical studies, a draft Environmental Impact Report will be compiled, identifying possible mitigation. Once that draft is complete, the community will have another 45 days to comment before the final EIR is prepared for approval.

Rojas said DSD and E&CP will remain in contact with the North Park community throughout the process.

“City staff will retain an open line of communication with interested members of the public,” she said in an e-mail. “Relevant comments from the public will be considered as part of the EIR process.”

For more information, click here. E-mail comments on the EIR to [email protected].