It must be election time for District 7, because that’s when the question of extending Tierrasanta Boulevard east to Princess View Drive becomes a hot topic in the press again.
The Tierrasanta community has opposed the extension of the four-lane road for decades, primarily because city traffic engineers have told us that the speed limit would be immediately raised to 55 miles per hour and a significant portion of the vehicles currently using Friars Road would shift north to our community.
The road extension would require the construction of a huge bridge and the loss of homes in Allied Gardens to accommodate the massive infrastructure required for the road. The last cost estimate given to our community put the road extension and other improvements at more than $200 million.
And what would extending the road do to our “Island in the Hills”? Students crossing Tierrasanta Boulevard to attend Serra High School, Jean Farb Middle School and De Portola Middle School would be directly affected. Imagine the scene before and after school with students crossing the road with its 55-mph speed limit. We are a walkable community and the road extension would affect pedestrian safety.
Traffic wouldn’t affect just Tierrasanta. Princess View Drive and neighboring streets would have to be expanded to accommodate the increased traffic, affecting the quality of life in their neighborhoods just as much if not more than in Tierrasanta.
The completion of State Route 52 reduced the need for extending Tierrasanta Boulevard. New residential, commercial and industrial uses proposed in the communities of Mission Gorge/Grantville/Allied Gardens are putting pressure once again on extending the road. Proposed mitigation for the pending projects calls for putting funds into the road extension project, but nowhere near the amount needed to construct the bridge, let alone cover the costs of condemning homes and expanding local streets.
The city needs to rethink traffic flow in the Mission Gorge/Grantville/Allied Gardens communities and the cumulative impacts that the proposed new projects would have on the local quality of life. Let’s put to rest this multi-decade debate over the Tierrasanta Boulevard/Princess View Drive connection and come up with realistic and creative solutions to the area’s current and future traffic congestion.
Deanna Spehn lives in Tierrasanta and is the editor and co-publisher of Tierra Times.
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I thank they should extened Tierrasanta Blvd to Mission Gorge Rd connecting to Princess View Dr because it would reduce out of direction traffic from Allied Garden to Tierransanta and to I-15 North and past I-15 where it becomes Balboa Ave. Those Tierrasanta resadents who oppose the extension should know that street extensions are planned and done to serve a purpose.
I agree with David, I don’t think adding a bridge wouldn’t hurt either. This could possibly cause more traffic on Tierrasanta Blvd, but as any current or former resident of Tierrasanta knows, Tierrasanta Blvd is already a raceway/autobahn for the youth and the thrill seeker. However, it can also be quite tranquil.
A bridge between the two areas would cut down on the need to go to all the way to the I-8 or I-15 whether you are headed to Murphy Canyon/Kearney Mesa or to Mission Trails/Allied Gardens. This would be a great help cutting down on traffic to the new stadium as well (especially with all of those who live in these areas). I now own a house now off of Mission Gorge near Princess View Dr behind Tierrasanta, but before that I used to live for years in the large white condo buildings at the end of Tierrasanta Blvd.
Since before buying my house, I have worked in Kearny Mesa, so I know that I would benefit from not having to drive an extra 4-5 miles to I-15 just to go a couple exits to Balboa Ave. However, I know for fact that the businesses in both Murphy Canyon/Tierrasanta and Allied Gardens/Mission Trails would all benefit to such a bridge. I was pleasantly surprised to see other people feel that feel the same way!! If you build it, they will come!!