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<\/a>The SR 94 Express Lanes Project will connect Interstate 805 express lanes with Downtown by constructing two new lanes along SR 94, one in each direction, and a new direct connector between SR 94 and I-805, a release for the workshop said. The Express Lanes would accommodate new Bus Rapid Transit service in addition to carpools and vanpools traveling between South Bay and Downtown.<\/p>\n
The Community Enhancement workshop held July 24 at the Sherman Heights Recreation Center drew people from South Park and greater Golden Hill who are not only concerned about the project\u2019s traffic impacts to their neighborhoods, but also about the potential for creating new parks and recreational areas in a region of the city many see as lacking in open space.<\/p>\n
The most ambitious \u2013 and costly \u2013 proposed enhancement associated with the project is the idea of creating various-sized \u201clids\u201d or \u201cdecks\u201d over the freeway that could then be turfed and used for a variety of recreational purposes.<\/p>\n
Lids over SR 94 were one of the issues landscape architect R. Brad Lewis came to discuss at the July 24 workshop. Following an opening overview presentation by Lewis and SANDAG traffic engineer Andrew Rice, Lewis conferred with Uptown residents in a small-group breakout session to discuss the freeway deck concept.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very similar to a bridge, the amount of concrete it takes to build, though it would have [a] little bit more depth,\u201d Lewis said of the deck, which he noted has not yet been designed.<\/p>\n
But how it is made, Lewis said, is not as important as how it could be used.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you want to use this bridge?\u201d he asked. \u201cIs it just going to be a bunch of grass? Or is it going to be for other uses? That\u2019s what you need to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis said a freeway deck could be constructed in varying sizes from as large as 7 1\/2 acres to as small as an acre and a half.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s just a park, a big grass area, you would have 3 1\/2 feet of soil on top,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be flat. Adding a big \u2018super\u2019 deck could have different levels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis said a 7.5-acre super deck built over SR 94 between the bridges at 22nd and 25th streets could cost as much as $82 million and take a decade to complete. Alternately, he said a large, 4.6-acre deck could be constructed between 24th and 25th streets, a medium deck between 22nd and 24th streets or a smaller, 1.5-acre deck between 22nd and 23rd streets.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the vision, but any idea is on the table,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n SANDAG currently has $15 million budgeted for enhancements, with the potential to seek other funding sources.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother idea is to create a pedestrian plaza \u2013 allowing no cars, just bikes \u2013 across 24th Street,\u201d Lewis said, adding that it is up to the affected communities to decide how future enhancement money might be spent. He said funding could be spent all at once for something big, like a super deck, or dispersed among various small improvement projects.<\/p>\n City spokesperson Lynda Pfeifer said a freeway lid is one of many possible alternative community enhancements that could be derived from the SR 94 Express Lanes Project.<\/p>\n \u201cThe City will consider including one or more bridge decks in the Southeastern San Diego Community Plan Update, and the future draft Golden Hill Community Plan Update will include the bridge-deck concepts as a long-term, unfunded park improvement project,\u201d Pfeifer said in an email.<\/p>\n On July 24, Rice said the workshop\u2019s main purpose was to \u201ctalk about community enhancements,\u201d which \u201cis not the same as mitigation.\u201d Potential enhancements are the portion of the freeway improvement project \u201cwhere additional funds are made available to do things over and above the project and its mitigations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a unique opportunity to talk about enhancements,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n Lewis said implemented projects stemming from the project, in a sense, are \u201cpayback\u201d for traffic impacts. For some, payback could take the form of enhancing connectivity between neighborhoods.<\/p>\n \u201cHighway 94, when it went in, split the communities of Golden Hill and Sherman Heights in half,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cCommunity enhancements from this project could help restore connectivity between those communities by repairing bridges at 22nd and 25th streets, improving bicycle and pedestrian circulation, putting in new, wider sidewalks, upgrading mass transit stations and adding more park and open space.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>