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 orrento Valley Road was originally built through the
Peñasquitos Lagoon and across Carmel Valley Creek around
1908 to accommodate horse traffic. The northern mile-long section,
ending at Carmel Valley Rd., has always been a low-speed, winding
two-lane road that would frequently experience flooding and traffic
problems, even after being converted to a paved road. I-5 was
built just east of the road in the 60s.
 The
last mile of SVR was closed more than four years ago to allow
for the relocation of an important but problematically sited
sewage pump station. Additional work on the intersection of SR-56
and I-5 kept the road closed. But when these projects were completed,
the northern section was not reopened. No one is 'fessing up
as to why CalTrans was not required to return the road to its
open condition. Beginning in December 1999, extraordinary political
pressures led the City to issue something called an "environmental
exemption," to attempt to reopen the segment.
Environmentalists
have heard of all manner of actions to get around environmental
review and permitting in the City (alternative compliance, deviations,
negative declarations), but this form of exemption is particularly
insidious because it is an attempt to take action without any
public or other agency review. Carmel Mountain Conservancy, a
local nonprofit, was compelled to counter with a lawsuit noting
that rerouting and resurfacing a road next to an estuary in the
Coastal Zone - and forming the eastern border of Torrey Pines
State Reserve does indeed merit environmental review not an "environmental
exemption." The city appears to be backing off for now,
and is preparing an Environmental Impact Report.
Unidentified
individuals, under the name of "Citizens for Improved Sorrento
Access, Inc.," then sued the City to reopen the road. The
contention of their lawsuit is that the road is in the Community
Plan, the road is in the Coastal Plan, the road will relieve
traffic, so open the road. Attempts to determine who the Citizens
are have been unsuccessful. They have not disclosed their required
officers with the State and their attorney has stated that "the
Citizen's are media shy."
Among other
things, the Conservancy makes the point that reopening the road
would not be routine, that, at a minimum, it would "cost
the taxpayers $641,000 to do the "interim minimum improvements,"
and that conditions have greatly changed since the road's closure.
What has been
happening to traffic for the last four years? New, fully-improved
multi-lane roads have been opened that provide alternatives that
take less time than when Sorrento Valley Rd. - backed up during
commute hours was last open.
In the meantime,
wildlife, bicycle and pedestrian uses along this section have
flourished. Recent Reserve studies have shown that the amount
of construction around Sorrento Valley has increased such that
the wildlife corridor under I-5 is now the only entry point used
by larger mammals to enter and exit the Reserve. These mammals
include deer, fox, coyote, bobcat and spotted skunk. The reopening
of Sorrento Valley Road would now be detrimental to the present
condition of Torrey Pines State Reserve.
Furthermore,
this section of road, even if it were reopened, is slated for
closure yet again for the 5/805 widening project. Following that
project, new north and south entries onto 5/805 and Carmel Mountain
Rd. will be installed right at the south end of where the road
is closed. Those who want to reopen SVR right away are essentially
asking the taxpayers to make an investment that not only destroys
a valuable natural asset, but would be almost immediately re-closed
for a project that would then provide massive additional capacity
into and out of Sorrento Valley.
Some local
biotech leaders working in Sorrento Valley have begun to take
notice. Eight business owners in SV signed a letter to the city
and to Biocom, (a biotech trade group that is on the record supporting
reopening): "We, as business owners, believe that the health
of Torrey Pines State Reserve is an important asset to our businesses
for several reasons. These include the ability to recruit people
to work near a nationally recognized Reserve, the ability for
employees to enjoy peaceful moments, even during their workday,
and a bike lane that now exists for people to get some exercise
on their way to work. It is our opinion that the loss of the
wildlife corridor will negatively impact the plants and animals
in the reserve, thereby greatly decreasing the value of this
precious resource."
Doug Lappi,
President/Senior Scientist at Advanced Targeting Systems, Inc.
and member of Biocom, took it a step further and wrote to Biocom
requesting them to reconsider their support for reopening of
SVR, noting,
"Biocom
is an important organization that provides great help to the
biotech community. I am an enthusiastic supporter. I would like
to call your attention to a Biocom public policy plank that no
longer is appropriate for Biocom: the reopening of Sorrento Valley
Rd. between Carmel Valley Road and Carmel Mountain Road. The
situation has changed and I would like to request that this issue
be dropped.
"Torrey
Pines State Reserve is a national treasure. For instance, if
you read an article in the travel section of the New York
Times on what to do in San Diego you will find the Reserve
always receives prominent attention. It is a major element in
the beauty of San Diego that makes recruitment of talented individuals
to the area easier and at reasonable costs. It is clear with
the real traffic problems that exist, San Diego is having some
difficulty in the differentiation from higher-salaried areas
such as Los Angeles. Second, the Reserve is actually used by
employees in Sorrento Valley as a place to visit during or after
the work day. Detriment to the Reserve deteriorates the quality-of-life
of employees of the biotech industry. Third, the section of Sorrento
Valley Road is now open to pedestrians and bicyclists. The latter
use the road as a means to work (relieving traffic, of course),
but if the road were reopened to automobiles, the road would
be dangerous for bicyclists, and would probably be unused by
them. Fourth, this is a simple biology issue, and it is inappropriate
that a group such as Biocom, that is so heavily populated by
biologists, would come down on the side that has poorly understood
the biology."
Road proponents
also poorly understand the priorities of the community as well.
The Torrey Pines Community Planning Group voted 8-2 to support
permanent closure of the road to motorized uses. This political
flash point has led to a major demarcation in the mayor's race.
While Judge Dick Murphy also supports the closure, Supervisor
Ron Roberts was unwilling to make a commitment.
This section
of SVR is being reclaimed by nature and other nonpolluting commuters.
Taxpayers will win, too, by keeping it closed. Drivers already
have viable alternatives and will have many more in short order,
when the merge expansion is completed. San Diego faces increasing
conflicts over growth. As Dr. Lappi and others have noted, the
future of our hi-tech economy is more and more dependent upon
resolving those conflicts on the side of nature and quality of
life. 
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