Plan to widen Interstate 5 moves ahead

A panel recommends major expansion; final approval would not come till next year

By Robert J. Hawkins
Friday, December 10, 2010 at 8:22 p.m.

The future shape of Interstate 5 through North County, an acrimonious battleground for months, grew clearer Friday.

A key panel for the regional agency that controls funds for all county highway construction has endorsed a scenario that calls for a full widening of I-5 to 14 lanes from La Jolla to Carlsbad and a lesser build-out, to 12 lanes, from there to the county line. The highway is eight lanes wide through this region.

Next week the panel’s recommendation will go to the full board of the San Diego Association of Governments, known as SANDAG.

Until now, the I-5 debate has centered on the state Department of Transportation’s vision for the highway. Caltrans offers five scenarios for the 27-mile stretch — from doing nothing at all to widening the highway to 14 lanes — 10 open lanes and four carpool lanes.

Opponents have urged leaving the highway as is. But many would accept widening it only within the existing right-of-way. A 14-lane highway would inevitably require the taking of dozens of homes along the densely populated corridor.

An extended public comment period on the five scenarios drew nearly 1,000 responses, some as long as 100 pages, which Caltrans must review in the months ahead. Those who have objected to the scale of the project inlcude Solana Beach and Del Mar, state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, citizen groups and organizations such as the Sierra Club.

Only one public speaker at Friday’s meeting addressed the I-5 issue. Danial Allen of Escondido urged SANDAG to “back off on freeway widening on I-5.â€