Printer-friendly version
La Mesa City Council hears update from Caltrans
By K
aren Pearlman
Aug. 13, 2025 (La Mesa) – Road changes long planned for state Routes 94 and 125 in La Mesa at the junction with Spring Valley are starting to move again.
The SR 94/125 Interchange Project, in the works for several decades by the California Department of Transportation in collaboration with the San Diego Association of Governments, will bring connectors long anticipated and needed for the freeways and the region.
The original project extended more than three miles along both routes and Caltrans officials say it remains “a highly prioritized project in the region.”
Construction is expected to begin in late spring or early summer 2026 with an anticipated finish to the first of two phases in late spring or early summer 2028.
The project will improve traffic movement by providing a direct connection from southbound SR 125 to eastbound SR 94.reducing congestion on freeways and local streets, and providing better access for bicyclists and pedestrians.
During an Aug. 12 presentation about the project to the La Mesa City Council, project manager Jake Stelten and Karen Jewell, both of Caltrans, gave an update, noting that funding for the first of two phases is secured and voicing hopefulness for phase two dollars.
Traffic and safety have forever been a struggle in the area where the freeways meet, and have been problematic since the original interchange project from 1974 did not include a southbound-to-eastbound connector.
Stelten explained how the southbound to eastbound movement causes traffic and backup along SR 125, with westbound to northbound movement causing backup along westbound SR 94.
The total cost of Ph
ase 1, including $85 million in construction and design, is $115.5 million. Another $7 million in cost for project approval and the environmental documents have been completed. Caltrans expects the environmental re-evaluation and design to be completed this fall and winter at a cost of $17.5 million.
Capital and support for right-of-way ($6 million) is expected to be completed by fall/winter of 2025, and Stelten said Caltrans expects those changes to be open to traffic starting in spring of 2028.
“The first phase of the project, the auxiliary lanes project, is fully funded through our State Transportation Improvement Program, which is discretionarily dispersed by SANDAG,” he said.
Phase 1 will feature auxiliary lanes on southbound SR 125 at Lemon Avenue and Spring Street, on eastbound SR 94 at Bancroft Drive and Kenwood Drive, and northbound SR 125 at SR 94 and Lemon Avenue.
Stelten said the project will necessitate the demolition of the Mariposa Street bridge in La Mesa, and subsequent reconstruction for lengthening of that bridge to accommodate the auxiliary lanes.
“The project includes a portion of the sound walls original originally planned for and retaining walls as well as pedestrian and ADA improvements on Mariposa Street and Bancroft Drive,” he said.
Bike improvements in previous plans show that the Mariposa Street overcrossing replacement will be striped as a Class 3 bikeway, using “sharrow” pavement markings. Spring Street and Bancroft Drive have been pegged to be striped as a buffered Class 2 bikeway with a green painted lane in each direction.
Mariposa Street pedestrian and ADA improvements show new 7-foot sidewalks on both sides and ADA-compliant curb ramps on all four corners. Bancroft Drive is slated for 6-foot wide standard sidewalks and ADA-compliant rams at the eastbound ramp’s end.
Phase 2 features include a direct freeway-to-freeway connector from southbound SR 125 to eastbound SR 94, additional sound walls and additional retaining walls and bicycle improvements along Spring Street.
The second phase will come at an expected cost of about $160 million, including an estimated $140 million in construction costs. Caltrans expects construction to begin in 2028 and 2029.
In an email sent to ECM on Aug. 13, Stelten wrote, “All types of funding will be considered for Phase 2 as opportunities present themselves.”
“This includes federal discretionary grants, state funding and local/regional sources,” he wrote. “The $140 million construction capital and support estimate… is a preliminary estimate that is difficult to secure funding based on. It will be easier to identify funding sources once we are further along in the process of establishing the alternative for the connector and the associated cost.”
The road ahead now appears smoother but there have been some delays along the way.
The project slowed down in 2021 when it was discovered that groundwater in the area higher than Caltrans had anticipated was going to be an issue for any building taking place. Groundwater studies and more documentation stalled the project.
It “warranted additional environmental analysis in order to bring as many improvements from the project to our local communities and to the city of La Mesa as possible, and in a time efficient manner, and to take advantage of the funding that the project had already secured,” he said.
At the meeting, La Mesa City Council member Patricia Dillard expressed concern over the plan’s previous builds, plans and delays. She also brought up safety concerns for “people having to cross over too far just to get on Spring Street.”
Jewell said, “I think you’re going to see a big improvement after these auxiliary lanes go in because what that’s doing is right now you’ve got all those connectors from both directions northbound and southbound on 125 that all merge down to three lanes to go under Mariposa.
“The fourth lane through Mariposa, which is those auxiliary lanes, you’re going to see an improvement there because now it will have an extra lane to try and clean that up -- because it was a bottleneck right there. So that’s why we put the auxiliary lanes first to try and get them moving while we made this decision on how to go forward.”
Jewell said she has been involved with the project for about seven years and noted that “the community has come together and lobbied for SANDAG to support this project and get it going, so that’s how it got the funding that it has now.”
“I know that SANDAG is trying hard in finding funding, and we’re also going to be looking at federal grants available and earmarks that might be possible to try and gather up the money,” she said.
Jewell said Caltrans has about three years “to try and figure out a way to do it, and there’s a lot of different options, and we’re going to try all of them.”
Recent comments