SANDAG holds two meetings on upcoming construction
By Dave Schwab | SDUN Reporter
For some, the Mid-City Rapid Bus Project is all about interconnectivity.
That’s what Eric Adams, San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) project manager, told local residents about the objective of the project between San Diego State University (SDSU) and Downtown at a June 10 open house, held at the Grace Lutheran Church at 3967 Park Blvd. A second meeting, hosted by the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, was held three days later, June 13.
“You’ll have a really good rapid bus transit system that ties SDSU into Downtown San Diego via El Cajon and Park boulevards,” Adams said about the project’s outcome.
Explaining how rapid buses differ from regular Metropolitan Transit Service (MTS) buses, Adams said the rapid system will have “express, limited stops with higher-level amenities at stations offering more of a trolley-type feel.”
The $44.5 million project, scheduled to begin construction by the end of June, includes building bus-only lanes on a portion of Park Boulevard, new stations with customized shelters and “next bus arrival” signs, improved sidewalks and crosswalks, and new landscaping, street lights and traffic signals. There will also be installed fiber-optic lines to improve traffic flow along El Cajon Boulevard, and a fleet of new low-floor, natural-gas powered buses will serve the route.
When the rapid bus transit project is complete – service is expected to start on the new route sometime in 2014 – it will interconnect with other freeway systems providing direct access to employment and shopping centers in North and South County. Adams characterized the Mid-City project as one “piece in the puzzle” to future long-term transit improvements, creating a seamless County-wide transit network.
At the June 10 open house, transportation planners and engineers gave a brief presentation and then answered questions one-on-one with audience members, using charts and diagrams set up in the church’s Fellowship Hall. About 100 Mid-City residents packed the church hall to hear the presentation, and some were uncomfortable with the one-on-one interaction, preferring instead to group responses.
Residents questioned the project’s cost and need. One expressed concern that new rapid bus transit would bring uninvited drug-related or other crime to the area. Mostly, residents were concerned about how their neighborhood would be impacted by yearlong construction, which many said they fear will be disruptive to the normal flow of daily activity.
Adams told residents during the presentation their goal was to “come back to the community before construction and present our project team, and get feedback on any concerns [residents] have about construction impacts to the neighborhood or the community at large.”
Gary Bosse of Simon Wong Engineering, a go-between with SANDAG and contractor West Coast General Corporation on the transit improvement project, talked about how the project will be delivered. Noting that his company will coordinate with the City via public outreach through Katz and Associates, Bosse said, “Anything we can do to mitigate construction impacts we will absolutely do it. … We need to build this project and keep it on schedule.”
Overall plans for the transportation plan include approximately 38 minutes of travel from SDSU to Downtown, running from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Seven parking spaces along Park Boulevard will be eliminated, and 24 new parking spaces are planned for nearby streets, making a “net gain of 17 spaces,” SANDAG said in the project’s master plan.
A traffic signal at Polk Avenue will be moved to Lincoln Avenue, in part to accommodate an existing plan from the City, and pedestrian crossings with protected flashing or solid lights will be added. Additionally, left turns will no longer be allowed from Howard Avenue to southbound Park Boulevard.
For more information about the Mid-City Project call 877-379-0110 or visit keepsandiegomoving.com/midcityrapid/.
