by Thomas K. Arnold

The long-awaited widening of Interstate 5 through coastal North County will be happening a lot sooner than many people think, according to an email from a top California Department of Transportation official.

In a Dec. 8 email send to Carlsbad city officials, Laurie Berman, district director for Caltrans, said construction on Phase One of what the agency calls the North Coast Corridor Program will begin in the spring of 2016, just a few months from now.

Caltrans crews will focus on utilities, pedestrian enhancements and soundwalls, with work proceeding through the summer and into the fall.

In October 2016, Berman wrote, Caltrans plans to start replacing the Interstate 5 and rail corridor bridges over San Elijo Lagoon.

HOV (carpool) lane construction through Encinitas and, in Carlsbad, from La Costa Avenue to Palomar Airport Road, will begin in early 2017. At the same time, Caltrans will get start replacing the I-5 and rail corridor bridges over Batiquitos Lagoon.

A section with two HOV lanes from Palomar Airport Road to state Route 78 at the Carlsbad-Oceanside border will undergo construction beginning in the spring of 2018.

All of Phase One should be completed by 2021, Berman wrote. In addition to the new bridges, HOV lanes and soundwalls, the project includes a new Park & Ride facility at Manchester Avenue in Encinitas, along with a new and improved overpass; enhancing the capacity of the coastal rail line with two double-tracking projects, at San Elijo and Batiquitos lagoons; and a new 27-mile North Coast Bike Trail, which will close gaps between the existing network of trails along the corridor.

According to Caltrans, “later phases of the NCC Program will include adding a second HOV/Express Lane in each direction from La Jolla to Oceanside, additional double track projects along the LOSSAN (Los Angeles to San Diego) coastal rail corridor, and other environmental and community enhancement projects.”