Copyright timesofsandiego
Carmageddon, wash, rinse, repeat. And it will keep repeating – for a while. Yes, folks, part of Interstate 5 will be closed again beginning at 9 p.m. Friday, continuing through 5 a.m. Monday. Where to avoid if at all possible this time? All lanes of southbound I-5 from state Route 52 to the Mission Bay Drive onramp. This is the fourth of several freeway closures on stretches of I-5, which are all part of the $113.7 million I-5 Asset Management Project, which by the time it’s finished in 2027 will have improved the quality of the roadway from Via de la Valle near Del Mar all the way to Camino De La Plaza at the border. More than 30 miles of better roads is all well and good, but as drivers stuck in the intermittent tie-ups that began Sept. 5 can tell you – the headache in the moment is real. The good news for those who have to travel the Pacific Beach/Clairemont section of I-5? This weekend’s closure is the last of the four major weekend shutdowns in the area, according to Stephen Welborn of Caltrans. Here’s the nitty-gritty for avoiding the Friday-Saturday-Sunday snarl on the roughly 3-mile span between SR-52 and Mission Bay Drive: Southbound I-5 motorists should take southbound Interstate 805 at Sorrento Valley, connect to southbound state Route 163, then to westbound Interstate 8 to reach I-5. Vehicles traveling past southbound I-805 may exit and enter I-5 at Genesee Avenue, westbound La Jolla Village Drive and Nobel Drive. Entrances and exits at Gilman Drive and eastbound La Jolla Village Drive will be closed. Vehicles driving south of Gilman will be detoured to eastbound SR-52. Vehicles heading west on SR-52 will detour to La Jolla Parkway or northbound I-5. Vehicles going east on La Jolla Parkway will not be able to connect to southbound I-5 and will detour to eastbound SR-52. Now a piece of bad news to match the good. Welborn said there will be “a few more smaller evening full closures, notably near Gilman Drive in the coming weeks.” So, yes, brace for that. But back to the good news! Caltrans will put full weekend closures on pause during the holiday season, mid-November to January. The work includes rehabilitation of pavement along the main roadway, shoulders and freeway ramps to extend the service life of the existing pavement. Beyond resurfacing, the project incorporates, according to the state, a broad range of upgrades “to improve performance, safety and environmental conservation.” Funding for the project includes $102.6 million from the federal government and $11.1 million in state Senate Bill 1 funds.
