HIGHWAY 94 CLUB TO SEEK ANSWERS FROM SANDAG AND CALTRANS

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What can be done to make Highway 94 safer? April 19 meeting set at Barrett Junction Cafe

 
“Pray for me, I drive Highway 94”

April 16, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--That’s a bumper sticker spotted now and again on cars, SUVs and trucks traversing State Route 94 as it departs suburban San Diego out past Rancho San Diego and Jamul and enters a world quite different.  

The people who live along SR 94 “out east” toward Dulzura and Barratt Junction, Potrero and Campo are a different breed — a blend of distinctly Mid-Western American values of land and open space with a spirit of entrepreneurship to raise horses and sheep and to plant vineyards and bottle and brand their own wines.

For a variety of reasons these modern-day pioneers join together to focus on 94, as they call the winding, two-lane road that links them back to a faster-paced life in El Cajon, La Mesa and San Diego. The Highway 94 Club is their community planning group, their chamber of commerce, their extended family.

Highway 94 Club members have problems with the powers that be that make decisions about maintaining and improving their 94.  SANDAG — the San Diego Association of Governments -- makes the priorities.  The State Legislature generates the transportation bonds and votes the money.  CalTrans subs out the work.  Environmental groups raise issues -- plants and birds and rodents are important too.  But many times they take precedence over human life and other safety concerns.

Members hope some answers will be forthcoming when the club hears from spokespeople from SANDAG and CalTrans on Thursday, April 19, in a gathering at 6:30 pm at the Barrett Junction Café.  Dinner begins at 7 pm -- $9 per person, fried chicken, salad, vegetables and mashed potatoes served family style, topped by apple pie, with the speakers to follow.

Representing SANDAG will be Richard Chavez and Elisa Arias.  CalTrans Project Manager Lou Melendez will also be present.  The Mayor of Tecate, Mexico, Javier Urbalejo Cinco, is expected to attend as well.

The history of the club’s struggle for attention and commitment has been long — 35 years!  Some improvements have been made.  But for members of the Highway 94 Club it is a litany of studies and reviews followed by more studies and reviews.  Especially frustrating are the environmentalists that stymie correction of a road hazard out of concern for a lizard or a bush.

While little is done, motorcyclists compete with semis hauling fresh vegetables and flowers, electronics and sand.  “Bike lanes” are painted on sections of the highway that are so narrow the white line slips over into dirt.

According to Ed and Marilyn Boryla, current club president and secretary, what is needed are wider roadways, more passing lanes, and more turnouts with signage.  Accident rates are high.  Injuries and fatalities are an ever present concern.  Marilyn was herself seriously injured in a fatality collision on SR94 about eight and a half years ago.

There are many interrelated issues.  In addition to transportation funds from Sacramento, and local decisions by SANDAG and CalTrans, there are recent actions by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.  The County reduced density of housing in much of the undeveloped land in East County, opting for more open space, which implied to SANDAG and CalTrans fewer vehicles on the feeder roads and thus a lower projection for the future traffic volume on the highway, which led to lower priorities for passing lanes and turnouts.  

“But the problem is these various agencies don’t accurately assess the number of vehicles coming north from Tecate, Baja California,” points out Ed Boryla.  “NAFTA is on again, off again, and on again.  

“We see it though.  The truth is that huge trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds rumble over a roadway built for a maximum of 60,000 pounds.  The curves are too tight.  Big trucks are forced to cross the yellow lines and on-coming motorists brake and dodge and scatter.”

Consider this too, Boryla emphasizes: “When you look at the statistics of ridership per mile, and compare how much is spent on SR94 with how much is spent the Coaster, you see the Coaster is getting a far greater share of San Diego County’s transportation dollars than is Hiighway 94.

“How many people are injured or killed on the train?”

For more information, call Ed and Marilyn Boryla at 619-478-2622 or go to www.hwy94club.org.

 


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