This Month

SANDAG newsletter
provides information
on key projects & services

Progress continues on 2050 RTP
Rideshare Week 2010 Corporate Challenge winners announced
Be safe over the holidays – call 511 for a taxi

Quarterly progress report on transportation projects
Study shows increases in arrestee meth use

SANDAG sells $350M in transportation bonds

Quarterly progress report on transportation projects

Each quarter, SANDAG issues a transportation progress report to its Board of Directors to keep them apprised of the many projects underway in the region. By leveraging state, federal, and local TransNet dollars, SANDAG funds transportation improvements and services designed to give commuters more choices and reduce growing traffic congestion.
 
Information for July to September 2010 is available below. More project information can be found on the TransNet  Dashboard at www.KeepSanDiegoMoving.com. The Dashboard provides a database of information, tracking expenditures against budget, schedule, status, and other updates on the TransNet Early Action projects. The TransNet Dashboard is updated monthly.

Highway Projects:

Completion of the environmental document for the I-5/I-8 interchange corridor widening project is expected by the end of November for release to the public in December 2010. This project will construct auxiliary lanes and widen the connector between I-5 northbound and I-8 westbound. This project is currently funded through the design phase only and does not have a completion date at this time.

Caltrans has revised the date for the environmental document for the I-805 North Express Lanes. The document is waiting for a biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in order to be completed. The environmental document is anticipated to be completed and approved in December 2010.

On February 17, 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award of $1.5 billion in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Grant funding for more than 50 high-priority, innovative transportation projects across the country. Caltrans and SANDAG were one of only four recipients in California of these funds, receiving a $20.2 million grant for the SR 905/I-805 Interchange project, which will improve the interchange by widening the westbound to northbound connector from SR 905 to I-805 and providing auxiliary lanes. The contract is expected to be awarded in January 2011 with a completion date scheduled for fall 2012.

Transit Projects:

The environmental document for the Del Mar Bluffs 3 project has been completed and is anticipated to receive approval for a categorical exemption by the end of November. Once this has been approved, the design phase will begin with an anticipated completion date of February 2011.

The completion of phase one of the Escondido Bus Rapid Transit project has been revised to March 2011. This project, which includes bus stop improvements, is currently in construction.

Arterial and Freeway Interchange Projects:

The design phase for the Nordahl Road/SR 78 interchange project has been completed. This project will widen Nordahl Road from Mission Avenue to Montiel Road to accommodate turning lanes and is now in right-of-way acquisition. This phase is expected to be complete by March 2011. Overall completion is scheduled for 2012.

Traffic and Demand Management:

During the first quarter of 2011, the I-15 Express Lanes facility recorded 493,210 FasTrak trips, which is a decrease of 7.2 percent from the previous quarter. Approximately $831,000 in toll revenue was generated during the quarter.

Participation in the vanpool program increased from the last quarter, from 667 vanpools to 675. Average ridership per vanpool was approximately eight passengers, with a total of 5,432 passengers participating.

The 511 call system received 282,000 calls, raising the cumulative call volume to more than three million calls.

Project Manager

José Nuncio, Manager of Financial Programming and Project Control
(619) 699-1908 or jnu@sandag.org