The Unified Port of San Diego continues to move forward with plans for the realignment of North Harbor Drive between Nimitz Boulevard and Scott Street as part of the Port’s Compass Strategic Master Plan to revitalize the area.
The proposed project calls for an additional 188 paid parking spaces and would do away with the currently uninterrupted transition from northbound Scott Street onto eastbound North Harbor Drive ” causing drivers in the future to pull up to the stoplight before turning right. If plans are approved, construction could begin in July 2008 and would take about six to nine months at a cost of about $4 million, according to port officials.
Port representative Margurite Elicone said the change to the Scott Street transition would make the intersection more accessible to pedestrians and people with physical disabilities.
“The No. 1 concern is safety,” Elicone said.
Construction crews would close several lanes of North Harbor Drive during construction, possibly bottlenecking traffic flow along remaining open lanes. The four narrower lanes would reopen after construction with a total of 462 parking spaces in the area, she said. The majority of the parking spaces would be paid and metered parking.
Money generated from parking would pay for maintenance of the parking lots, including the cost of the agency administering the service, she said. The agency that would operate a parking lot or possible parking structure has not been determined. However, there is currently an Ace Parking lot in the area with about 187 spaces.
Along with the reconstruction, about 30 trees along the center of North Harbor Drive would be replaced with about nine trees and other shrubbery, according to project plans.
But while the project is geared to make the area safer for pedestrians, one Point Loma resident says the project isn’t needed and would negatively affect residents by changing traffic flow to the area.
“Why does the Port Authority need to interrupt the ways of life on Point Loma to create 180 more unneeded parking spaces?” asked Thomas Delahanty, a 26-year Point Loma resident.
Delahanty, a retired industrial engineer, said only about 70 percent of the parking spaces along North Harbor Drive were occupied during his recent observations. He said he had planned to present the findings of his unofficial analysis to project planners at the last Peninsula Community Planning Board meeting Nov. 15.
Port officials were scheduled to present project plans to the planning board that night but were not able to attend because of scheduling conflicts. Elicone said port officials plan to be present to the PCPB at the next meeting on Dec. 20 to address Delahanty’s and other residents’ concerns.
The Peninsula’s planning board meets every third Thursday of the month at the Point Loma branch library, 3701 Voltaire St., at 6:30 p.m. For more information and agenda items, visit www.pcpb.net.