Freeway On, Off Routes Would Be Seasonal : Fair Board’s Ramp Proposal Draws Fire

A proposal by the Del Mar Fair Board to build seasonal off- and on-ramps from Interstate 5 to the fair has provoked renewed antagonism from Del Mar and concern among environmentalists about development of the San Dieguito River Valley.

The Fair Board has offered to pay the state Department of Transportation the $2.6 million cost of building the ramps just north of Del Mar Heights Road to relieve traffic congestion on Via de la Valle.

Fair officials said the ramps are essential to accommodate continued growth of the fair and racing season by preventing gridlock on I-5 and the streets of Del Mar and Solana Beach.

Development Feared

But several Del Mar City Council members and a leader in the campaign to preserve the San Dieguito River Valley as open space say the ramps could lead to increased pressure to pave over or develop parts of the environmentally sensitive valley.

“They (Fair Board members) are very intent on turning a lot of the valley into a parking lot,” said Del Mar Mayor John Gillies.

Alice Goodkind, a leader of the Friends of the San Dieguito River Valley, said the ramps could prove the first step toward building a major east-west road that would encourage residential and industrial development.

Fair Board member Ray Saatjian said the board “has no ulterior motive.”

“We are not trying to put up hotels or parking structures or pave the valley,” Saatjian said. “That’s not it at all. We’re only trying to come up with a plan to accommodate a very real need to make the fairgrounds accessible and usable for the people of San Diego County.”

Under the proposal, Caltrans would build a two-lane off-ramp for northbound traffic just north of Del Mar Heights Road. A paved road would parallel I-5 briefly, then turn west underneath I-5 to an access road.

The access road and a newly constructed bridge over the San Dieguito River would lead to a parking lot, on land now owned by the Fair Board but occupied by a golf driving range.

One-Lane On-Ramp

A one-lane on-ramp to southbound I-5 would also be built, using the same access road. Drivers leaving the parking lot would travel over the new bridge and use the access road to the on-ramp.

Caltrans officials estimate that the off-ramp will eliminate 10,600 cars from Via de la Valle on an average day of the fair by the year 2004. Fair officials would like the ramps ready by 1991, which Caltrans says is possible.

“Engineering-wise, it’s fairly simple,” Caltrans engineer Jim Lithicum told a joint meeting Tuesday night of the Del Mar and Solana Beach city councils.

The seasonal system would be strictly for arriving northbound cars. There would be no ramps for southbound cars arriving from North County; those cars would still be required to use Via de la Valle.

Public Hearing Planned

Authority over the proposal rests with Caltrans, the California Transportion Commission and Federal Highway Administration. A first step is a planned public hearing by Caltrans within six to seven months, according to Caltrans officials.

Approval is not required from either Del Mar or Solana Beach. The role of the city of San Diego is less clear, however.

Within City Limits

The project lies within the city limits, and the city owns some of the property--along with a Laguna Niguel development company, and a San Diego property-owning trust.

The Caltrans position is that the city of San Diego has the right to comment on the project’s environmental impact report, which will be considered by the state and federal agencies, but does not have veto power since the project is basically covered by an existing “freeway agreement.”

But Tim O’Connell, a land-use specialist on the staff of Mayor Maureen O’Connor, said that, as a practical matter, the project probably will not be approved if San Diego objects. Among other things, the city could fight in court to keep its land from being acquired.

‘Environmentally Sensitive’

When the idea has been floated in the past, O’Connell noted, city planners have found it “environmentally insensitive.”

“At a time when the whole rest of the region is up in arms about traffic--and some people are talking about restricting parking downtown to force people into mass transit--the Fair Board is looking for ways to make it easier and more convenient for people to drive their cars,” O’Connell said in an interview.

Much the same sentiment was expressed at the meeting Tuesday night--at which anti-fair feelings among Del Mar council members flared anew. Solana Beach council members expressed skepticism and were more measured in their comments.

Uneasy Relationship

The uneasy relationship between the fair and Del Mar had seemingly improved since last year’s auto racing at the fairgrounds, which had been bitterly opposed by Del Mar, proved not to be as loud and disruptive as feared.

Del Mar Councilwomen Jacqueline Winterer and Jan McMillan suggested that the fair abandon the ramp plans and concentrate on using shuttle buses. The ramps do not increase the capacity of I-5, they said.

“When a glass of wine is full and you keep on pouring, you do not increase the capacity of the glass, it overflows,” said Winterer.

Shuttle buses were used successfully this year by the fair, with patrons parking at Torrey Pines High School and at UC San Diego. The plan was credited with lessening congestion on Via de la Valle and I-5, even on the fair’s biggest days.

Perhaps as a sign of the chilly relations between the Fair Board and Del Mar, no board member or employee attended the joint meeting. A consultant to the Fair Board attended but did not speak and declined comment to reporters.

“I for one am really opposed to putting any off-ramp south of the river,” said Gillies, referring to the San Dieguito River. He said the ramp plan could drive up the price of land needed to help save the San Dieguito Lagoon.

“Any relief for traffic at the fair is good, but we’re not willing to sacrifice the future of the lagoon,” he said.

In interviews Wednesday, Fair Board members restated their oft-expressed belief that Del Mar council members do not understand the function of the Fair Board. They expressed hope the ramp project will proceed apace.

‘We Try to be Sensitive’

“We try to be sensitive to our neighbors, but, by the same token, Del Mar and Solana Beach have to face the fact that the fairgrounds is meant to be used by all the inhabitants of the county,” said board member Bob Vice.

“As board members, we would be derelict in our fiduciary responsibility if we did not try to make it as easy as possible for as many people as possible to use the fairgrounds,” Vice said.

“It’s too bad we have to deal with the bureaucracy,” he said. “If this was private industry, the seasonal off-ramp would have been finished two or three years ago.”

Board members said shuttle buses are not a long-term answer.

Complex Problem

“That’s a simple answer to a complex problem,” said member Jan Anton. “We’re using the buses now, and we’ll continue using them. But to think that can accommodate the growth over the next 30 to 40 years as the county grows is just putting your head in the sand.”

The southbound on-ramp would be six-tenths of a mile from the Via de la Valle exit.

Because of the proximity of Via de la Valle, the federal government would allow the ramps to be used only during the 19-day fair season and 43-day thoroughbred racing season, according to Sheldon Craig, deputy district director for Caltrans.

The fair board would be required to block off the ramps at all other times. Caltrans officials said there are only a handful of such seasonal ramps in the state and none in San Diego County.

Federal standards on the closeness of freeway interchanges would prohibit the ramps from being expanded to accommodate a full cloverleaf design, with on- and off-ramps on both sides of the freeway, Craig said.

Whether the ramps could be linked to the proposed and hotly debated Highway 728 through the San Dieguito River Valley is a local matter, he said.