With development, population and traffic concerns already dominating discussions and raising the blood pressure of Point Loma residents, the news may be about to get worse.
Seven large city maintenance, Navy and private development projects are scheduled to take place in Point Loma within the next year or so ” and some fear the perfect storm when it comes to Peninsula gridlock and flaring tempers.
One project, a water main replacement along Rosecrans Street starting from the Navy property line to Talbot Street, is likely to begin at the end of this month and continue through June, according to city staff.
Several planned project by the city, Navy and other private developments has Jim Gilhooly, a 20-year resident and civil engineering consultant to Point Loma Community Planning Board, making some grim predictions for workers and residents on the Peninsula.
“People in this area are not cognizant of what’s going to come down here,” he said.
Gilhooly has more than 30 years’ experience working with power plants and construction projects on safety and environmental impact mitigation. He said if the projects continue as planned, it would bring vehicles on the Peninsula’s main roads to a standstill.
The seven or so projects in and around the Peninsula either have already begun or are scheduled to start within the next year, he said.
The city’s water main replacement project scheduled for later this month will occur in three phases. The first phase replaces the section of pipe from the Navy property line to Kellog Street.
The second phase would include the section from Kellog Street to Qualtrough Street. The third and final phase will replace the pipes and fire hydrants and repave the street from Qualtrough Street to Talbot Street, said Nabil Batta, the city’s project manager. The project contractor will determine the dates and times for each phase. Construction would continue through summer, he said.
Still, not everyone agrees the traffic flow situation will be as bad as some project.
Batta said city staff will be working with the community to resolve any potential traffic problems.
“We have a traffic control plan,” he said. “We will take one lane at a time. We never block traffic [entirely] and if needed we have a flagman, but there is no street closure.”
Batta said large trucks should still be able to navigate Rosecrans Street during construction.
Replacement of the water main and street should be concluded by the time the Navy begins to transport large sections of fuel tanks and other equipment for the construction of the new fuel-tank system at Naval Base Point Loma in the fall, said Capt Mark Patton, who commands the base. The new P-401 fuel-tank system replaces the old tanks that were found to be leaking in 2001. The Navy has removed about 147,000 gallons of fuel product since then, he said.
“We are well aware of the [city’s] project,” Patton said. “And there will not be any significant truck traffic from the P-401 project until after June 2008.”
A preconstruction meeting would take place with the city staff, city planners, Navy representatives and contractors to coordinate the work. Patton said he or other Navy representatives would attend the meeting at the invitation of the city.
While the city and the Navy coordinate their projects, several other developments in the area would still contribute to the worsening traffic problem, according to Gilhooly.
The possible installation of the Beneficial Use Digester Gas (BUDG) system at the Point Loma wastewater facility would collect methane and transport the gas using large trucks ” the size of those used to deliver gasoline ” on about six daily round trips through the Peninsula. That information was relayed by Thomas Alsphaugh, a mechanical engineer with the city’s Wastewater Department, who addressed the Peninsula Community Planning Board during a presentation in July.
Gilhooly said he is concerned about the BUDG project because planners have not prepared a new environmental impact report or traffic mitigation study to consider potential problems.
According to Gilhooly, a new impact report should analyze vehicles’ prevailing speeds, accident records and highway and roadside traffic patterns to minimize the impact of the trucks on the Peninsula traffic flow, he said.
“I want to know why a [new] environmental impact report isn’t being done,” he said.
City project managers for the BUDG project could not be reached by press time.
Other projects scheduled for construction include the Point Loma Townhomes and the Kettenburg Landing near Shelter Island.
Construction on the Kettenburg Landing near the America’s Cup Harbor has started, Gilhooly said. If approved by the city, the Point Loma Townhomes will add about 47 townhomes to the area bordered by Scott Street, according to project plans.
Although the Kettenburg and Point Loma Townhomes projects have satisfied the city’s requirements for environmental impact and traffic mitigation, Gilhooly said the projects would still add a significant amount of traffic.
Combined with the expected additional traffic from the maximization of Lindbergh Field and the proposed Nickelodeon resort hotel on North Harbor Drive, a project currently in the planning phases, future projects would worsen congested areas of the Peninsula during peak driving times, Gilhooly said.
Gilhooly urges residents and community members to alert their representatives and elected officials, including District 2 Councilmember Kevin Faulconer, about the problem.
To contact Faulconer’s office, call (619) 236-6622.