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Quality of Life

Caltrans to open I-805 freeway ramps in Southcrest to pedestrians, bikes

An SUV enters the 43rd Street on-ramps to I-805, Oct. 8, 2024.
An SUV enters the 43rd Street on-ramps to I-805, Oct. 8, 2024.

Caltrans will be closing the 43rd Street on- and off-ramps to I-805 on Saturday, Oct. 12 to allow residents to experience the freeway on foot and bike.

The event, which will last from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will feature music, live art, a fashion show and activities to encourage attendees to reimagine the space as a neighborhood.

The 43rd Street ramps date back to the 1970s as Caltrans was building I-805. They were intended to be the start of a larger freeway, Highway 252, that would have connected I-805 to I-5 through the neighborhood of Southcrest. But decades of opposition from the surrounding communities ultimately forced Caltrans to abandon the freeway and return 66 acres of land to the city of San Diego for redevelopment.

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In March, Caltrans announced it had selected the 43rd Street ramps as part of its "Reconnecting Communities: Highways to Boulevards" grant program. The grant will fund planning and outreach efforts that could lead to the ramps being decommissioned and the land being repurposed for housing, businesses and public gathering spaces like parks and community centers.

Freeways are not free. We pay for them in all kinds of ways — with our tax dollars, our time, our environment and our health. While freeways have enabled huge amounts of economic growth, they've also caused displacement and division. Learn the forgotten history of our urban freeway network, and how decades after that network was finished, some communities are still working to heal the wounds that freeways left behind. As climate change threatens to wreak havoc on our cities, freeways are not just a part of the problem. They can also be part of the solution.

Janice Luna Reynoso is executive director of Mundo Gardens, a nonprofit that is advising Caltrans and SANDAG, the county's transportation planning agency, on the Reconnecting Communities grant. She said the event will feature booths where people can share their own ideas for the land.

"We want to imagine what these 50 acres, the 43rd Street ramps, would look like if it is returned to the community for community benefit," Luna Reynoso said. "As we walk through the space, we realize how large it is, how vast, and also how big our imagination can go on what we would like to see there."

Ideas that have been floated for the space include a community land trust that would provide affordable housing, a cultural center and park space with native plants.

Caltrans is encouraging attendees to arrive by public transit on the 955 bus, which stops immediately in front of the 43rd Street ramps, or by joining a group bike ride from Pepper Park in National City that will depart at 9:30 a.m.

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Attendees arriving by car can park for free in Parking Lot 1 at the Educational Cultural Complex, which is a 12-minute walk to the event.

A similar freeway closure event was held last year on State Route 15 between State Route 94 and Harbor Drive. A coalition of business and civic groups is also working to hold an annual "open streets" event on State Route 163 in Balboa Park.