The project is not proposing to increase the amount of vehicle safety inspections and the worst trucks try to get through the Tecate facility. The Calexico and Otay Mesa ports of entry have 24-hour Class A inspection facilities. This project refuses to analyze alternatives, such as using Mexican Highway 2 from Tecate to Otay Mesa, an underused, improved four-lane highway. The project also refuses to analyze its potential adverse impacts to the SR 94 corridor. However, Caltrans is using old accident statistics from 1989-1991 to justify the work.
Current statistics show declines in accidents.
It is only a small segment of the long-range proposal to widen SR 94 from the present 2 lanes to 4 and 6 lanes. Removal of the ancient oaks for the Passing Lanes project will be mitigated with 400 oak seedlings, planted in a single, 2-acre area. Former Caltrans mitigation plantings have had a 90 percent mortality rate. This project would not be necessary without the big-rig commercial trucks that now use the road, creating dangerous driving conditions for everyone. The trucks cannot legally or safely negotiate the sharp curves and steep grades without going into the opposite lane in many areas.