I-5 Express Lanes Project
Final Environmental Document Certified
The Final EIR/EIS addresses more than 6,000 comments received during the 2010 Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIR/EIS) and 2012 Supplemental Draft EIR/EIS review periods. Five key areas of interest by the public include – noise, mass transit, right-of-way impacts, mitigation, and lagoon impacts.
The document was signed on October 23, 2013 by Caltrans. The Final EIR/EIS is the result of an extensive planning and public outreach process.
Project Elements
The final environmental document identifies the Express Lanes only project as the preferred alternative, which will add two Express Lanes in each direction from La Jolla Village Drive in San Diego to Harbor Drive in Oceanside, separated from the existing general purpose lanes by a painted, striped buffer. This option has the smallest footprint of the build alternatives studied in the project’s Draft EIR/EIS, has the least impacts to natural resources, requires the fewest property relocations, and has the lowest construction costs.
The project is consistent with the SANDAG 2050 Regional Transportation Plan and California State Bill 468, a key piece of legislation which helped shape the ultimate decision to move forward with the Express Lanes only option.
Phasing
The release of the Final EIR/EIS allows the project to move closer to the start of construction on the first phase of the project (Build NCC) which includes High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV), or carpool lanes, from Lomas Santa Fe Drive to State Route 78. View more information about Build NCC projects.
Ways to view the Final EIR/EIS: