\u201cAre there any plans to repair the ever-eroding Via de la Valle?\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Aug. 28 Carmel Valley Community Planning Board meeting, a local resident asked the oft-repeated question and complaint about the major throughfare. That night, the planning board\u2019s agenda included an update on the overall Via de la Valle corridor and the improvement projects slated to begin in the next month and through the next two to three years, from road resurfacing to the installation of water lines and the replacement of the aging adjacent El Camino Real bridge.<\/p>\n
The board and community members were able to receive valuable information from representatives from the city\u2019s engineering and capital projects department via a Zoom connection in the Carmel Valley Library.<\/p>\n
The repaving of Via de la Valle, from the I-5 on-ramps to San Andres Drive is finally anticipated to begin on Sept. 8, at the conclusion of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club\u2019s fall racing season. Construction will be done during nighttime hours from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was important for us to establish working hours that pose the least amount of traffic impacts in that area since Via de la Valle has a high volume of daily traffic during the daytime,\u201d said Aveen Saleh, an associate civil engineer.<\/p>\n
The $4.8 million project includes resurfacing 1.83 lane miles of Via de la Valle, the full width of the street excluding the lanes already paved by SDG&E in 2022-23: \u201cOur main goal is to ensure Via de la Valle is paved fully,\u201d Saleh said.<\/p>\n
The project will also include ADA-compliant curb ramps, new posts with pedestrian push buttons and posts, pedestrian barricades, protective railings and traffic striping. Work in the area began last November and was completed in June on the paving of curb ramps and striping along San Andres Drive and the driveway by the intersection of Flower Hill Promenade.<\/p>\n
The city just secured a permit from Caltrans for the paving near the I-5 on and off ramps, where they will install three new ADA-compliant curb ramps and a new traffic signal pole type with audible pedestrian signal buttons. After the paving is complete, it\u2019s expected the new pole will be installed after 20 weeks due to the manufacturer\u2019s lead time.<\/p>\n
The work will be phased for the curb ramps, paving, striping and signal improvements along Via de la Valle\u2014 traffic controls will be implemented to ensure traffic moves smoothly in the area, Saleh said.<\/p>\n
Planning board member Jason Stahl, who lives off of Via de la Valle, said the roadway improvements in the area have been a project near and dear to his heart for many years: \u201cEvery time we leave our home, every trip, everything starts and finishes on Via de la Valle.\u201d<\/p>\n
After hearing the update, he questioned why sidewalks were not included as part of the project despite the new crosswalks and again shared his issues with the road striping, particularly the westbound bike lane that forces cyclists to zig and zag in between lanes before the freeway and then completely disappears. He has spoken to the mobility committee and Caltrans about putting a bike lane under the I-5 on-ramp, but hasn\u2019t made much progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been a personal battle for me for four years now,\u201d said Stahl. \u201cI absolutely want to work with (the city) and ensure that our taxpayer dollars are being spent properly and effectively to make life better for all of us that live here. No one cares more about this road and these conditions than the people who live here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saleh confirmed that sidewalks are not a part of the project and said they had some of those same conversations with Caltrans. For any future bike lane improvements, she said there would need to be a feasibility study done with the city\u2019s transportation department.<\/p>\n
El Camino Real bridge widening<\/p>\n
City senior civil engineer Ronak Rekani provided an update on the long-awaited project that will widen and realign El Camino Real to the east, creating a new signalized intersection with Via de la Valle at De La Valle Place.<\/p>\n
In addition to widening the road from two to four lanes from San Dieguito Road to Via de la Valle, the narrow bridge deemed functionally obsolete and structurally deficient, will be replaced with a new 354-foot-long and 76-foot-wide bridge. The crossing will include both a bike lane and a sidewalk, protected by flex posts.<\/p>\n
Currently, El Camino Real has no bike lanes or sidewalks but with the improvements, the new road will feature ADA-compliant sidewalks, bike lanes, a stamped concrete median and landscaped parkways. An undercrossing under the new bridge will also provide a link across the busy thoroughfare between the inland and coastal miles of the Coast to Crest Trail.<\/p>\n
The project also includes the installation of a water main across the proposed bridge, which according to the city will improve potable water distribution to the area.<\/p>\n
The four-year construction project is now expected to start in September 2026, with the new bridge opening up in 2030. El Camino Real will remain open throughout construction: \u201cOnce the new bridge is open, we\u2019ll shift traffic over to the new aligned roadway,\u201d Rekani said.<\/p>\n
In looking at the extended timeline, Chair Michelle Strauss questioned why the much-delayed project is taking so long. A report given to the board in 2023, when the project was delayed due to the need for further environmental review, provided a three-year construction timeline starting in February 2025 and opening by 2028.<\/p>\n
Rekani said the extended timeline is not because of the increased scope, but due to the easements and permits: \u201cWe still have not completed all of the property acquisitions that we need for the project,\u201d Rekani said.<\/p>\n
The city has reached an agreement with Surf Sports, which owns the 23-acre lot adjacent to the park on the corner of El Camino Real and Via de la Valle. The last easement the city needs to acquire is actually owned by the state: two parcels in the Del Mar Horsepark area owned by the 22nd Agricultural District.<\/p>\n
While the city is still working on securing that easement, Rekani said they did just receive their last permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife last month so the project is finally fully permitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s really excited about this one for many reasons,\u201d Stahl said. \u201cOne of the things we\u2019re very aware of is fire abatement and emergency evacuation routes so obviously increasing the bridge from two lanes to four lanes is going to help that situation tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the bridge project, there will be some widening of Via de la Valle, a small segment west of the newly realigned intersection toward the existing El Camino Real intersection and then a little east of De La Valle Place. After the widened portions, the road will again taper down to the two-lane thoroughfare.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a lot of widening on Via de la Valle,\u201d Rekani said. \u201cThe intent originally was to tie into a private development project that was supposed to widen Via de la Valle all the way down to San Andres but that fell through, that is no longer happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rekani said there are no current plans to widen Via de la Valle.<\/p>\n
Water lines<\/p>\n
There are two water line projects in the works for Via de la Valle, in addition to the new one that is part of the El Camino Real bridge project.<\/p>\n
One project is located to the west near Jimmy Durante Boulevard, a water main construction tentatively scheduled to begin in 2026 and be completed by spring 2027. The project involves replacing about 250 linear feet of 18\u201d cast iron water pipe with a 16\u201d PVC pipe, as well as installing new curb ramps and resurfacing the street.<\/p>\n
The goal of that project is to improve the water system efficiency and reliability and extend the service life of the water pipe.<\/p>\n
A second water line project on Via de la Valle will replace a \u201ctemporary\u201d emergency high water line that was installed in 2016. As Rekani said, there\u2019s no existing pipeline so a high line runs along the street providing water from the Santa Fe Irrigation District to city of San Diego customers in neighborhoods like Santa Fe Downs and other residences along eastbound Via de la Valle.<\/p>\n
As Stahl said, anytime there\u2019s a reckless driver, the emergency pipeline collapses and knocks out water flow to the entire area.<\/p>\n
The project aims to install a new water line on the stretch of road from San Andres to De La Valle Place, replacing 3,600 feet of existing cement mortar-lined water main with a PVC water main plus an additional 3,000 feet of new PVC water main. With the installation of the new water line and pressure reducing station, water service connections to residential properties that are currently being served by SFID will be switched back over to the city.<\/p>\n
The project is expected to start construction in November of 2027 and finish in November 2029.<\/p>\n
Stahl said he hoped there was some way to move up the project timeline as the pipeline has been failing for the last nine years, with his community losing water sometimes five to 15 times a year. Rekani said public utilities has made the project a priority and they are working to address it as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
As the city wouldn\u2019t resurface a roadway they plan to trench, Strauss also had some concerns about the state of the asphalt on that stretch of Via de la Valle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hear from a lot of people about that segment in particular, it\u2019s in really, really poor condition,\u201d said Strauss. \u201cI\u2019m looking at the timelines and thinking if those roads are not going to be touched for another five years, that\u2019s going to be concerning to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the pipeline is slated to begin construction in late 2027, Rekani said if the roadway were resurfaced today, it would place the city in a three-year moratorium and the construction would be delayed by almost a year because they wouldn\u2019t be able to go in and trench. She said there may be ways for the transportation department to \u201cspot treat\u201d some of the potholes with residents reporting issues via the city\u2019s Get it Done app.<\/p>\n
Stahl said that he understands the city is doing its best, fielding thousands of pothole repair requests, but that might not be realistic for this road: \u201cHow do you put a Get it Done ticket in for an entire road? There\u2019s so many potholes, there\u2019s so many ruts.\u201d Stahl proposed a possible band-aid solution of a slurry seal over the road from San Andres to El Camino Real and \u201crolling the dice\u201d on the moratorium because he is not entirely confident that the pipeline project would begin in the next three years.<\/p>\n
While there were still some unanswered questions and frustrations about the lengthy project timelines, planning board members overall were grateful for the rare opportunity to have city staff representatives present, even virtually. Kudos were given to community representative Fatima Maciel from Mayor Todd Gloria\u2019s office who helped facilitate having the engineers available on the Zoom call.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAre there any plans to repair the ever-eroding Via de la Valle?\u201d At the Aug. 28 Carmel Valley…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":189549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,7350,7807,7356,9866,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-189548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-del-mar-times","12":"tag-del-mar-times-news","13":"tag-rancho-santa-fe-review","14":"tag-rancho-santa-fe-review-news","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115124054865899160","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}