SANDAG and Caltrans will begin a series of overnight closures of southbound Interstate 5 Sunday evening to complete trolley construction in the University City area.
Southbound I-5 will be closed from the merge to La Jolla Colony Drive from 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night, Sunday through Thursday, through at least June 28, according to the San Diego Association of Governments. There is a chance that nightly closures will continue into July.
Motorists will be detoured along southbound Interstate 805 and westbound state Route 52 during the closure periods.
The closures are necessary to continue construction of two highway overpasses for the Blue Line extension of the Metropolitan Transit System. One will span I-5 at Voigt Drive and the other south of Nobel Drive. Crews will remove wooden support structures from the Voigt Drive overpass and add them to the one near Nobel Drive.
The closures are expected to affect freeway traffic to and from the San Diego County Fair, which is being held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds through July 4. Residents are advised to plan accordingly as the closures may extend into July.
After work on southbound I-5 is complete, a full closure of northbound I-5 will also be required, according to SANDAG. Dates and work windows for closures of northbound I-5 have yet to be released.
The closures are part of the $2.17 billion Mid-Coast Trolley project, which includes a planned 11-mile extension of trolley service from the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego to University City. The extension will add trolley stops in Mission Bay Park, the VA Hospital, 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 completed in 2021.
— From Staff and Wire Reports