City hopes to be looking over cloverleaf I-5 design

San Diego Business Journal, July 7, 2008 by Ned Randolph

The city paid $730,000 for a study recently to convince the California Department of Transportation to help pay for more design improvements to the Encinitas Boulevard interchange on Interstate 5.

The city and state agree on the designs for Birmingham Drive, Santa Fe Drive and Leucadia Boulevard, which are part of an I-5 widening project that Caltrans is funding.

City officials, however, want a more elaborate interchange at Encinitas Boulevard, as recommended in 2005 by Dokken Engineering, which the city hired to analyze the proposed improvements related to the project.

Caltrans favors a "diamond" design similar to the one already in place. The city counters that a more complex "'partial cloverleaf" design is needed. It would cost $32 million more, bringing the total to $52 million, and require the purchase of land near the freeway owned by Oggi's Pizza & Brewing Co.

"They've told us the difference in cost between minimum build and partial cloverleaf would have to be covered by the city," said Kipp Hefner, associate civil engineer with the city. He added that, "We're now trying to work out something with them."

Caltrans officials could not be reached for comment by last week's deadline.