The San Diego International Airport this week began construction on several road widening projects meant to help manage traffic to and from the airport on city streets.
Crews are starting work to add new left and right turn lanes to a portion of Pacific Highway near the airport's car rental center. Palm Street and Grape Street are also getting additional travel lanes. The projects include new bike lanes, rail crossings, wayfinding signage, traffic signals and streetlights.
The widenings were planned by the city of San Diego, but are being paid for by the airport as part of the Terminal 1 expansion project. Airport spokesperson Nicole Hall said the road widenings will increase capacity on some of the city's most heavily trafficked streets.
"This roadway improvement project is about creating efficiencies for people coming to the airport," Hall said.
But not everyone sees the widenings as an improvement.
Chris Gomez, chief executive administrator of the Little Italy Association, said the widening of Grape Street would add more traffic, noise and safety hazards to a neighborhood that thrives on its walkability.
"Both Grape and Hawthorn (Streets) have been kind of like the dividing walls of the south and the north of our community," Gomez said. "The traffic counts are substantially high, and now you're going to add an additional lane of traffic, removing all parking, which is kind of a pedestrian buffer in case of … a car veering off."
A traffic study from 2015 found that the widening of Grape Street would reduce vehicle delays at the intersection with State Street — but increase delays at the intersection with Harbor Drive.
The airport could also mitigate traffic to and from the airport with better bus and shuttle services, Gomez added.
The airport has set aside a "transit ready" section between Terminals 1 and 2 where a new bus or rail station can be developed sometime in the future, Hall said.
SANDAG, the county's transportation planning agency, currently has plans for a rail connection to the airport by 2050. It has also been studying improved bus services, though it's still unclear how they will be funded or when they will be implemented.
