Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Endangered species holds up road construction

Still no sidewalks for SY high school students

Otay Mesa Road
Otay Mesa Road
Casa Familliar protestors

The nonprofit organization Casa Familiar held its 17th Safety Walk along the unpaved Otay Mesa Road on Friday, July 31, with about 20 protestors holding signs saying “Sidewalk Promised,” and “Safety For Our Children.” During the march, two protestors lost their balance and fell to the ground along the rugged ½-mile terrain. They were not hurt.

Many of the 2,364 San Ysidro High School students must use this path daily to get to and from school, which includes no guardrails, no street lights, and windy turns with unpaved pedestrian trails.

Michael Freedman along Otay Mesa Road

Every last Friday of the month since February, 2014 Casa Familiar has held a Safety Walk to bring awareness to the dangerous road conditions. Michael Freedman, Chairman of the San Ysidro Community Planning Group, a committee made up of 15 volunteers who advise the city on necessary infrastructure improvements, joined the protestors. He explained that San Ysidro High School opened in 2002. Although located in Otay Mesa, it serves the San Ysidro community because “to build a high school, the state requires 50 acres and there’s no 50 acres suitable in San Ysidro.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
SeaView Terrace condos

The City allowed the school to open despite inadequate infrastructure. Since then, two residential developments have also been constructed along Otay Mesa Road: the single-family homes of Remington Hills and the 40 condominiums of SeaView Terrace.

Protesters are asking the city to "cut the red tape"

It took until March, 2014 for the San Diego City Council to approve the $11.5 million necessary to fund the road improvements. Weary that construction would ever start, Casa Familiar vowed to conduct their safety walks each month until the city broke ground on the project.

Protestor Gustavo Lopez, who has two nephews enrolled in San Ysidro High School, said, “The larger danger is during nighttime when they come back from school because it’s tiny the way it is. There are no lights and sometimes it’s dark.”

But the problem might soon be resolved. The sticking point: breeding season for endangered species.

On July 15, 2015 the Public Works Department sent letters to residents explaining that a temporary walking path will be constructed in August 2015 and main construction will begin in October 2015. Once completed, improvements will include new guardrails, street signage, pedestrian ramps, bicycle lanes, street lamps every 300 feet and a widening of the two lanes from 26-feet to 36-feet.

According to the Advance Planning & Engineering Division of the City — which created a 93-page document concerning the Otay Mesa Road — the endangered least Bell’s vireo and the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher both breed within the land next to the road. As a consequence, from February through September construction is forbidden.

The report admits, “The unimproved section of roadway along Otay Mesa Road presents significant safety dangers…” However, the report also explains, “In order to avoid potential impacts to nesting birds, vegetation clearing would be required to occur outside of the general avian breeding season.”

A qualified biologist will need to conduct a preconstruction survey and only if no active nests are found, clearing may proceed.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
Next Article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Otay Mesa Road
Otay Mesa Road
Casa Familliar protestors

The nonprofit organization Casa Familiar held its 17th Safety Walk along the unpaved Otay Mesa Road on Friday, July 31, with about 20 protestors holding signs saying “Sidewalk Promised,” and “Safety For Our Children.” During the march, two protestors lost their balance and fell to the ground along the rugged ½-mile terrain. They were not hurt.

Many of the 2,364 San Ysidro High School students must use this path daily to get to and from school, which includes no guardrails, no street lights, and windy turns with unpaved pedestrian trails.

Michael Freedman along Otay Mesa Road

Every last Friday of the month since February, 2014 Casa Familiar has held a Safety Walk to bring awareness to the dangerous road conditions. Michael Freedman, Chairman of the San Ysidro Community Planning Group, a committee made up of 15 volunteers who advise the city on necessary infrastructure improvements, joined the protestors. He explained that San Ysidro High School opened in 2002. Although located in Otay Mesa, it serves the San Ysidro community because “to build a high school, the state requires 50 acres and there’s no 50 acres suitable in San Ysidro.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
SeaView Terrace condos

The City allowed the school to open despite inadequate infrastructure. Since then, two residential developments have also been constructed along Otay Mesa Road: the single-family homes of Remington Hills and the 40 condominiums of SeaView Terrace.

Protesters are asking the city to "cut the red tape"

It took until March, 2014 for the San Diego City Council to approve the $11.5 million necessary to fund the road improvements. Weary that construction would ever start, Casa Familiar vowed to conduct their safety walks each month until the city broke ground on the project.

Protestor Gustavo Lopez, who has two nephews enrolled in San Ysidro High School, said, “The larger danger is during nighttime when they come back from school because it’s tiny the way it is. There are no lights and sometimes it’s dark.”

But the problem might soon be resolved. The sticking point: breeding season for endangered species.

On July 15, 2015 the Public Works Department sent letters to residents explaining that a temporary walking path will be constructed in August 2015 and main construction will begin in October 2015. Once completed, improvements will include new guardrails, street signage, pedestrian ramps, bicycle lanes, street lamps every 300 feet and a widening of the two lanes from 26-feet to 36-feet.

According to the Advance Planning & Engineering Division of the City — which created a 93-page document concerning the Otay Mesa Road — the endangered least Bell’s vireo and the threatened coastal California gnatcatcher both breed within the land next to the road. As a consequence, from February through September construction is forbidden.

The report admits, “The unimproved section of roadway along Otay Mesa Road presents significant safety dangers…” However, the report also explains, “In order to avoid potential impacts to nesting birds, vegetation clearing would be required to occur outside of the general avian breeding season.”

A qualified biologist will need to conduct a preconstruction survey and only if no active nests are found, clearing may proceed.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Next Article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.