The agency is considering different ways to reduce noise along the freeway, possibly by building block sound walls or earthen berms, he said. Rieger said he did not think Caltrans would have to condemn any property in Encinitas to accommodate the expansion. The meetings give residents a chance to review plans for a massive freeway expansion. Caltrans intends to widen the freeway to 14 lanes from Del Mar Heights Road to Encinitas Boulevard and to 12 lanes between Encinitas Boulevard to Vandergrift Boulevard just north of Highway 76 in Oceanside. Two of the lanes along the entire 20-mile stretch would be reserved for car pools and buses.
Construction is still several years away.
Caltrans intends to begin the expansion in Del Mar in about six years and work north to Oceanside, finishing the project by 2014. The state agency is now studying how to squeeze the bigger freeway through neighborhoods and business districts along the interstate and how to build larger bridges spanning five coastal lagoons, each of them home to endangered wildlife. Cliff Loy, a retired pilot who lives in a condominium on the east side of the freeway in Solana Beach, said the project could be a waste of time and money. I could jump on the freeway and be in San Diego in 20 minutes. You used to have to take the coast highway, and it would take you twice as long.