SAN DIEGO–The Balboa Avenue off-ramp from northbound Interstate 5 will be closed this weekend in order to accommodate construction to add a second track to the region’s coastal rail line.
This double tracking effort is needed to increase the capacity and efficiency of passenger and freight services.
The closure will begin at 7 p.m., August 19 and continue through 5 a.m., August 22. This is the second weekend closure for this off-ramp. The first one occurred last weekend, as planned, without incident.
Motorists traveling on northbound I-5 to Morena Boulevard can go around the work area by exiting at Clairemont Drive/Mission Bay Drive, heading eastbound on Clairemont Drive, then turning right on Denver Street, right on Ingulf Street, and then right onto Morena Boulevard. They can then travel north to Balboa Avenue.
Additional full weekend work and off-ramp closures may be necessary to complete the work.
SANDAG is spearheading a large scale effort to add a second track to the entire coastal rail corridor within San Diego County. The corridor serves COASTER and AMTRAK passenger trains, as well as freight trains, and connects the San Diego region to other counties, including Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo.
As part of the region wide double-tracking effort, SANDAG is undertaking this Elvira to Morena double track project. In order to make way for this project, contractors must relocate existing underground water pipes near Balboa Avenue/Garnet Avenue (just east of I-5).
This utility relocation effort has been underway for some time, with much of the work occurring at night. To complete the job as quickly as possible and with minimum disruption to traffic and the surrounding communities, workers need to occasionally close the northbound I-5 off-ramp at Balboa Avenue for entire weekends.
To help the public navigate through construction areas, SANDAG and Caltrans are providing real-time closure information to Waze, a free navigation app for smartphones and tablets.