North University City is exploding with construction projects like the Mid-Coast Trolley and Westfield UTC. The April 8 University City Community Association meeting crowd heard from two speakers: John Haggarty, of Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project, and John Alderson, who represented the Westfield expansion efforts. Haggarty said the 11-mile extension of the Trolley Blue Line will go from Old Town to Westfield parallel to I-5 for most of the ride. The nine new stations will include an elevated Nobel Drive station, a V.A. hospital station and two stations on the UCSD campus – Pepper Canyon and Voigt Drive. Executive Drive will have an aerial station too, and five of the stations will have parking. According to Haggarty, 21,000 trolley boardings a day will occur. Voters approved the $2 billion trolley project in 2004. The federal government is underwriting $1 billion. Who will ride the trolley when it opens in 2019? Looking at today’s riders, folks going from home to work or school often use the trolley already. More than 53 percent use boarding passes. Full construction will commence in 2016, and operational hours (4:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.) should meet most people’s needs in 2019. If you want to follow progress, check out sandag.org/midcoast. Westfield project manager Alderson painted a beautiful picture of the future Westfield Shopping Center at UTC, where the transit station will be housed. The new and huge Nordstrom will be on Genesee Avenue and feature a restaurant and coffee bar as well as retail. There will be 2,000 new parking spaces and two hours’ free parking. Seven to ten restaurants with farm-to-table quality will be added. The community room will adjoin a 13,000-square-foot patio. Construction dates run from next month to June of 2017. Alderson requested only this of the audience: “I ask for your patience.” Sears and 24-Hour Fitness will stay open during the construction. The parking structure on Genesee will expand from Macy’s to the pedestrian bridge. The buzz around South University City is about Imagine UC 2020. A second meeting drew a large crowd eager to hear about what could possibly be the dream of the neighborhood – a joint-use project around Standley Park between the school district and the city. With Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s emphasis on “safe and livable” neighborhoods, locals listened to ideas presented at an earlier meeting. Facilities manager Lee Dulgeroff talk about current and future projects at University City High School, Standley Middle School and Spreckels, Curie and Doyle Elementary. Afterward, people broke into small groups to talk about a proposed aquatic center serving schools and community, a pavilion for school and community performances, a jogging path around the perimeter of Standley Park and calming traffic suggestions to make the area inviting and safe. University City is alive with activity that will improve the neighborhood, but the potential for traffic congestion is not to be denied. The possibility of stationing a “fast response” team, part of the fire department, in South UC is good news as traffic increases the next couple of years. City priorities for fiscal year 2016 almost reads like the Pledge of Allegiance. City priorities include repairing streets,, investing in infrastructure, safe and livable neighborhoods, economic prosperity and opportunity in every community, excellent customer service and open government. In May, the public will be invited to weigh in on budget priorities at public hearings in front of City Council. UC should be well represented.
