All northbound lanes of Interstate 5 will be closed from 10:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting Thursday night and continuing through Friday, according to the San Diego Association of Governments.
The shutdown is needed for work crews to set up wooden and metal structures that will support the construction of a new trolley overpass at Voigt Drive. SANDAG crews began installing the structures on Dec. 2 and expected to finish by today, but last week's rain postponed this week's closures of northbound I-5, originally planned to run from Tuesday to Thursday.
I-5 northbound will be closed from La Jolla Village Drive to Genesee Avenue and significant delays are expected.
SANDAG completed a set of similar I-5 closures in early November to remove wooden supports on a new public bridge at Gilman Drive in La Jolla Village. SANDAG unveiled the new bridge Nov. 8 after closures affected I-5 through most of October.
The bridge at Voigt Drive is being constructed as part of the $2.17 billion Mid-Coast Trolley Blue Line Extension, which includes a planned 11-mile extension of trolley service by the Metropolitan Transit System from Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego to University City. The extension will add trolley stops in Mission Bay Park, UC San Diego and Westfield UTC. SANDAG is receiving $1.04 billion in funding from the Federal Transit Administration to complete the project.
The extension and related projects are intended to reduce traffic congestion as the county's population increases. Construction on the extension began in 2016 and is scheduled to be completed in 2021.
