California’s $1 Billion I-15 Project Set to Finish a Year Early

Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez toured the Interstate 15 Express Lanes Project in San Diego last week as the $1 billion project managed by the California Department of Transportation and the San Diego Association of Governments nears completion a year ahead of schedule.The four-lane project spans 20 miles between California 78 in Escondido and California 163 near Mira Mesa. More than 300,000 San Diego-area drivers rely on the route every day — a figure which is expected to grow to more than 380,000 vehicles per day by 2020. The project is funded in part by $236 million in federal funds.

“The jobs this project created have helped put people to work and strengthened the San Diego-area economy,” Mendez said in a statement. “Residents in this area will have more lanes — which means less congestion — a year earlier. We are committed to delivering projects more quickly so people can enjoy the benefits, and this is a great example.”

Work on the project is expected to be completed in December and open to traffic in early January. It will make four lanes available to accommodate the transportation needs of one of America’s most steadily growing areas and, using an innovative moveable median barrier, can be reconfigured to accommodate changing traffic volumes.

Sixteen miles of express lanes are already open on I-15 to carpoolers, buses, and solo drivers willing to pay a fee. The High Occupancy/Toll lanes give carpoolers and bus riders a free-flowing option and move traffic away from the regular and often gridlocked lanes.

More information is available at bit.ly/I15HOT.