Construction crews will begin six days of partial closures of La Jolla Village Drive at Genesee Avenue at 9 p.m. today, according to the San Diego Association of Governments. The closures are necessary to install 60-foot concrete girders, which weigh up to 200,000 pounds and are part of the infrastructure for the Metropolitan Transit System's Mid-Coast Blue Line Trolley Extension.
Partial closures will be necessary until Feb. 15, when SANDAG officials expect the girders to be set and the concrete to be dried. La Jolla Village Drive will be closed completely through Friday while Genesee Avenue will be limited to one lane in both directions from 9 p.m. today through 5 a.m. Monday. From 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, two lanes will be open in both directions on Genesee. Weeknight closures will mirror the weekend closure, with Genesee Avenue access limited to one lane.
"We know this is an inconvenience and thank the community for their patience and perseverance while the trolley extension is under construction," said SANDAG Chairman and Poway Mayor Steve Vaus. "Once all the aerial work is done, the traffic patterns will get back to normal, and in a couple of years, people will be riding the Trolley."
According to SANDAG, La Jolla Village Drive at Genesee Avenue is the last intersection requiring a long-term closure to install the girders. More than 44,000 residents use the intersection during the week, the agency said. The closures are part of the $2.17 billion Mid-Coast Trolley Blue Line Extension, which includes a planned 11-mile extension of trolley service by MTS from Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego to University City. The extension will add trolley stops in Mission Bay Park, UC San Diego and Westfield UTC. SANDAG is receiving $1.04 billion in funding from the Federal Transit Administration to complete the project.
The extension and related projects are intended to reduce traffic congestion as the county's population increases. Construction on the extension began in 2016 and is scheduled to be fully completed in 2021.
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