A massive plan to widen Interstate 5 in northern San Diego County is set to kick off late this summer and could transform one of the most heavily traveled freeways in the state.

The work is part of the $6.5 billion North Coast Corridor Program — led by the California Department of Transportation and the San Diego Association of Governments — that will ultimately stretch 27 miles from La Jolla to Oceanside. The plan includes an ambitious collection of transportation, environmental, and coastal access projects that will take shape over the next 30 years.

Key among them is adding four express lanes to I-5.

The $700 million first phase of the corridor project will begin in the next several months with freeway work in Encinitas, where an eight-lane bridge that crosses the San Elijo Lagoon will slowly be replaced with a larger, wider structure. Work will also begin on another freeway bridge that crosses the Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad.


The construction is sure to worsen gridlock in an area already clogged with traffic. But for many commuters it can’t start soon enough.

“Long overdue,” said Jim Allen, a San Diego attorney dropping off a colleague at an Oceanside Park and Ride lot last week. He said the widening project, once complete, “will make a huge difference” in his commute to courthouses throughout the region.

And the freeway bridges are just the beginning. The $700 million Phase 1 work will include:


▪ Adding a single carpool lane in each direction by cutting into the freeway median from Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach to state Route 78 in Oceanside.

▪ Replacing single-track wooden railroad trestles across the San Elijo and Batiquitos lagoons with double-tracked, concrete bridges.

▪ Building bicycle and pedestrian bridges and connected trails, as well as a wide range of wetlands and lagoon restoration projects.

All of the Phase 1 construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020. The price tag includes $480 million for the highway improvements, $140 million for railway improvements and $80 million for environmental work.


Doing the work all together minimizes the disruption to travelers and the environment, said Allan Kosup, director of the North Coast Corridor for Caltrans. Also, it allows the coordination of large projects with small ones.

“It’s a holistic approach,” Kosup said. “In doing so, you are finding once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that you wouldn’t have otherwise. A perfect example is the bike and pedestrian bridges.”

Commuters, however, are certain to feel some pain before they see the gain.

Though most of the work requiring lane closures will be done at night, Kosup said, any large construction project along the freeway causes disruptions.


“Anytime we are doing that amount of construction, people slow down,” Kosup said, adding that even during the day drivers sometimes hit the brakes just to look at the work under way.

The freeway between La Jolla and Oceanside carries an average of more than 700,000 vehicle trips a day, according to SANDAG. Growth forecasts vary, but the county’s population has more than doubled since the freeway was built, and traffic is certain to increase in the decades ahead.

The first stage of a $6 billion, 30 year project widening Interstate 5 in north county is scheduled to begin this summer. Widening the bridge over Batiquitios lagoon is one of the first parts of the project. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Still, not everyone supports the freeway expansion.


The nonprofit Cleveland National Forest Foundation filed suit against SANDAG in 2011, saying the plan contributes to climate change by emphasizing freeways over mass transit or alternative modes of transportation. A San Diego Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the foundation in that case, but it has been appealed to the state Supreme Court and remains unsettled.

In a separate case, the foundation sued Caltrans in 2013, saying the project failed to comply with environmental laws and would increase greenhouse gas emissions.

A foundation representative said last week a possible settlement is being negotiated, but declined to discuss details of either case.

Commuters also seem conflicted.


“It seems to me that anytime they widen the road, it just puts more cars on the road,” said Felicia Clunas, who works in Oceanside and travels the corridor frequently. “There aren’t too many people that carpool. I’m not .. sure that widening anything would help.”

Others say the work is much needed and long overdue.

“We really haven’t done a lot to I-5 since the 1960s,” said Gary Gallegos, executive director of SANDAG. “I don’t care what time of day you travel, it’s in need of improvements. We need to get started.”

SANDAG is considered “the bank” for the project. About $300 million of the Phase 1 work will come from Transnet, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters for transportation projects. The rest of the money will come from state and federal gas taxes, Gallegos said.


He praised the balanced approach that includes environmental work with the freeway and railroad improvements.

Other projects included in Phase 1 include the restoration of the San Elijo Lagoon, construction of a pedestrian underpass across the railway in Solana Beach, sound walls to shield residents from freeway noise, and the purchase and restoration of several pieces of wetlands property.

The improved freeway and railroad bridges are also expected to improve the health of the lagoons. More ocean water flowing into and out of the waterways will support larger numbers and wider varieties of native plants and animals.

“It’s a total project that not only improves transportation, but also improves the environment,” Gallegos said.


One person especially happy about the environmental aspect of the transportation plan is Doug Gibson, executive director of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy.

Gibson has been planning the restoration of the lagoon and its wetlands for years. At almost 1,000 acres, the San Elijo is one of the largest reserves in San Diego County, with more than 400 species of plants and 300 species of birds, some of which are rare and endangered.

“We’re happy,” Gibson said. “From our view, it’s always been about restoring the lagoon.”

Like most California lagoons, the San Elijo’s link with the ocean has been choked by development. The railroad, the coast highway, and the freeway were built, each one adding another barrier to the lagoon inlet and further restricting the flow of the tides.


The longer bridges, with fewer support piers in the water, will allow a wider channel so tides can flow into the lagoon at a volume much closer to their natural rate.

The San Elijo restoration is expected to begin later this year and be completed by 2019.

Also being studied for restoration as part of the transportation project is the Buena Vista Lagoon at the border of Carlsbad and Oceanside.

The Buena Vista Lagoon is the only freshwater lagoon in the county, and that has complicated its restoration. Studies have had to consider three versions of the proposed restoration: keeping the lagoon filled with fresh water, returning it to saltwater, or making it a combination of the two.


Complicating the project is that the weir, a low concrete dam near the outlet of the lagoon, is on private property owned by a small group of coastal homeowners who want the lagoon to stay fresh water.

Caltrans has taken the lead on environmental documents needed for that restoration, and is expected to choose one of the three alternatives later this year. However, SANDAG has not included money for the lagoon’s restoration in the first phase of the transportation project, and it could be eligible for other sources of funding.