District 11

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Contact: Public Information Officer Ed Cartagena Phone: (619) 688-6670

SANDAG Communications Director Colleen Windsor Office (619) 699-1960

Next “Puzzle Piece” Put in Place for State Route 52 Improvements

SAN DIEGO –The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) launched construction on the eastern portion of State Route 52 today, including a stretch of freeway through the heart of Santee and an interchange that will connect SR 52 and SR 67.

Caltrans District Director Pedro Orso-Delgado, Lemon Grove Mayor and SANDAG Chair Mary Teresa Sessom, Santee City Councilmember and SANDAG Transportation Committee Vice Chair Jack Dale and local elected representatives commented on the need for this long anticipated extension of SR 52.

“This important piece of the State Route 52 puzzle brings us one step closer to providing an additional east-west corridor for the region.” said Orso-Delgado.

This project is partially funded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Proposition 1B funding, passed in 2006. The first Proposition 1B project in the State was kicked off last year, with the interchange improvement on Interstate 5 at Lomas Santa Fe in city of Solana Beach.

Schwarzenegger said, "Proposition 1B is paying for vital transportation projects that relieve traffic congestion, which helps greatly when Californians are spending more than $4 per gallon on gasoline."

“This represents just one of many TransNet half-cent sales taxfunded projects SANDAG has brought to the residents and commuters of San Diego over the last 20 years, improving mobility across the region.” said Sessom. “We are keeping the TransNet promise.”

Future project construction planned along the corridor includes the extension of SR 52 from Cuyamaca Street to SR 67. When complete in 2010, the $600 million SR 52 extension will stretch four miles from SR 125 to SR 67, completing the highway from La Jolla to Santee nearly 40 years after the first section was opened. When the extension opens, it is expected to carry about 40,000 vehicles a day, many taken off the local arterials.

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