\t\t\t\t\tWhy this matters<\/p>\n
Chula Vista, where much of the South Bay Expressway is located, is one of San Diego County\u2019s fastest-growing cities. Leaders have pointed to worsening congestion on the interstates in their repeated calls to lift the toll.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If SR-125 changes, South Bay deserves receipts\u2014fund our reporting. Transportation officials are expected to soon update local leaders on their ongoing study of whether to make the South Bay Expressway toll-free.<\/p>\n Caltrans and the San Diego Association of Governments are evaluating the feasibility of ending the fee to use the 10-mile span of State Route 125. More than 50,000 drivers daily use the expressway that runs from Spring Valley to the U.S.-Mexico border, and multiple elected officials in the South Bay have continued to call for lifting the toll.<\/p>\n The two agencies will update the SANDAG board on a preliminary analysis \u201cin the coming months,\u201d a spokesperson told inewsource. Staff is also working on reports \u2014 including the cost of needed repairs and upgrades, and an environmental analysis \u2014 that are required if SANDAG were to relinquish rights of the expressway back to Caltrans.<\/p>\n A costly problem standing in their way? SANDAG still owes more than $155 million tied to purchasing the road in 2011. It projects as much as $13.8 million in annual payments through 2043.<\/p>\n That debt figure doesn\u2019t include the potential cost of improvements that SANDAG would be required to cover before turning the expressway over to Caltrans.<\/p>\n Residents and Chula Vista leaders have said the toll should be lifted, pointing to traffic on interstates 5 and 805 that has worsened alongside the South Bay\u2019s rapid growth.<\/p>\n SANDAG\u2019s management of the expressway has also come under fire. A 2024 internal audit found that senior leaders at the agency failed to disclose problems<\/a> with the toll collections system and took shortcuts to approve a contract for a new vendor. The auditors also flagged potential favoritism and lax contracting practices<\/a> with a separate firm hired to manage the system.<\/p>\n
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