The Throat: The Epic Saga

by Councilman Scott Peters
for the La Jolla Village News
July 2003

If I remember back to my college literature classes, a few of the central components of epic poetry are the descent into terrible circumstance, the triumph over that adversity and the eventual rise to victory. Recently, La Jollans have felt some kinship with Dante on his descent into the circles of the inferno as they work to persevere through the construction at the intersection of La Jolla Parkway and Torrey Pines Road. Like Dante's descent the road work has become more onerous as the construction moved forward and in the last three weeks drivers have been stuck in the 9th circle of traffic hell. I have been there with you on my commute to work and home, but I am pleased to report that the descent has ended and with a quick trip through purgatory we are on our way up.

The last three weeks have been truly difficult and I appreciate everyone's patience as we complete the paving and wiring necessary to time the signal lights at the intersection. Paving has required lanes to be dropped and wiring has caused lights to be out of sync. But the worst is over. With the exception of a few delays over the next few weeks for landscaping, drivers should see a tremendous improvement in the operation of the intersection.

Before Dante's descent Virgil warns him that long is the way and hard. And our journey together has been difficult, but necessary, and important. Many in the past have declined to move forward with this project because of the inevitable delays in traffic, all while traffic swelled until this intersection became the second most congested in San Diego. The La Jolla community came together in 1997 to unanimously advocate for this project, and when I was elected I promised that I would honor their advocacy and get the job done. That is why I have appreciated all of my neighbors' patience as we have moved through the last 12 months of work.

Now that the project is almost complete, it is important to take stock.

We now have an intersection that is designed to decrease queuing by 50% to 60%, and anecdotal evidence shows that the reconfiguration is working.

With over 150 sensors in the pavement and new technology signal lights, we will be able to better manage the flow of traffic and adjust the flow to meet peak demand times. Workers will be fine tuning signal timing over the next several weeks, so please bear with them while they work out the right sequence.

The project also replaced 80 year old water and sewer lines that were some of the oldest in San Diego. Most La Jollans remember what seemed like monthly water line breaks that disrupted water service to residents and caused huge traffic backups. These new water lines should last for the next 80 years and provide a safer and more reliable water supply for the La Jolla community. New sewer lines mean better carrying capacity, which means less potential for sewer line breaks that foul our beaches. I am happy to report that overall sewer spills are down 41% and this is just one part of our ongoing effort to update our aging sewer system.

We also now have a newly paved intersection and new pavement along Torrey Pines Road. This road had not been repaired in decades and this project provided the opportunity to upgrade probably the most important road in La Jolla.

The renaming of Ardath Road to La Jolla Parkway will provide better community identification and clear up the long running confusion many have faced trying to visit those who live along the frontage road, also called Ardath Road.

This project has been difficult to live through, but we did it. I want to again thank the residents who persevered through the night work at the beginning of this project and thank all of the commuters for their patience. I also want to thank the businesses in La Jolla who have suffered during this period. It was not easy for them and the best thing we can do to celebrate the completion of the project is to patronize our local businesses and go out to eat or buy someone a gift in La Jolla. We will be having a formal ribbon cutting with Mayor Murphy in the first week of September. Everyone is invited and we hope you will join us to celebrate the completion of the project. This has truly been an epic La Jolla story. We have triumphed over the adversity and made it to the other side. Thanks again to everyone.