SANDAG pares back freeway expansions in draft transportation plan

SANDAG Reduces Freeway Expansion Plans in New Transportation Blueprint

San Diego regional planning agency scales back highway projects, seeks public input on $126 billion transportation vision

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has dramatically reduced freeway expansion plans in its draft 2025 Regional Transportation Plan, marking a significant shift from previous versions as the agency grapples with environmental requirements and public pressure to limit highway growth.

The draft plan is now available for public review and comment through July 18, 2025, representing a $126 billion, federal, state, and locally funded draft plan that is more fiscally lean than previous versions.

Major Reduction in Highway Projects

According to a KPBS analysis, the current draft includes roughly 93 miles of new "managed lanes" — typically open to carpools, buses and toll-paying solo drivers — at a combined cost of $2.1 billion. Another 259 miles of managed lanes would be created by converting existing HOV or general purpose lanes, also costing roughly $2.1 billion.

This represents a dramatic reduction from an earlier version of the draft plan that included more than twice as many miles of added freeway lanes. In February 2024, SANDAG had considered some 200 miles of new freeway lanes under an "initial concept" for the regional transportation plan. That earlier framework included 11 specific highway expansion projects that would have generated roughly 967 million miles of additional vehicle travel per year, according to calculations by UC Davis researchers.

What Changed: The agency has shifted from building entirely new freeway lanes to primarily converting existing lanes into managed lanes. Instead of traditional highway widening projects that North County mayors like San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones had advocated for, SANDAG is now focusing on repurposing existing infrastructure wherever possible.

"We also want to have this plan be a little bit more affordable," said Antoinette Meier, SANDAG's senior director of regional planning. "We heard from our board, we heard from the public that they wanted the costs to come down for the plan. So we tried to really optimize our existing infrastructure the best we could."

Environmental Pressures Drive Changes

The reduction reflects mounting pressure to meet climate goals. State law requires SANDAG to adopt a plan that would achieve a 19% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. Decades of research has found that adding capacity for more vehicles on freeways does not reduce congestion in the long term, but does increase driving and greenhouse gas emissions.

Meier told the board that the agency is actually planning fewer freeway expansions than in prior years because state regulators are scrutinizing those projects more than ever before. "We still have a managed lane network, but it's the smallest managed lane network that we've had in a regional plan," she said.

What Was Promised vs. What's Being Delivered:

• February 2024 "Initial Concept": Over 200 miles of new freeway lanes across 11 highway expansion projects
• July 2025 Draft Plan: 93 miles of new managed lanes plus 259 miles of converted existing lanes
• Key Difference: Shift from building new highway capacity to optimizing existing infrastructure through lane conversion and managed lane technology

The earlier plan would have included more traditional freeway widening projects that North County officials had sought, but the final version emphasizes converting existing HOV lanes and general purpose lanes into managed lanes that can accommodate carpools, buses, and toll-paying drivers.

"We're trying not to expand freeways, so wherever we can, we're going to be using the existing right-of-way to add managed lanes," Meier explained.

Funding Challenges and Sales Tax Proposals

The plan faces significant funding challenges. It counts on voters approving three new sales taxes — one sponsored by the Metropolitan Transit System in 2028 to fund public transit improvements, and two others in 2032 and 2036 to fund a mix of transit, highway and bike projects. The plan also assumes parking fees will be used to fund smaller-scale neighborhood shuttles.

This comes after SANDAG was forced to remove a controversial "road user charge" from its 2021 plan. The policy was one of SANDAG's most effective tools at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, both discouraging driving and generating significant revenue for more sustainable transportation infrastructure.

Political Opposition and North County Concerns

The reduction in freeway projects has drawn criticism from North County officials who had pushed for traditional highway widening. San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones, who sits on the SANDAG board, has been a vocal critic of the agency's transportation planning approach. Jones and other North County mayors had advocated for more conventional freeway expansion projects, particularly in areas like the SR-78 corridor between Escondido and Oceanside.

Jones previously criticized SANDAG's approach, saying the transportation plans don't serve the actual needs of North County communities. "When I think about my city, in particular, I think we're a bedroom community, many of my residents have to leave the city to go to work," Jones said in a 2022 interview. "There's a complete disconnect with [SANDAG] in terms of the actual transit needs of this community."

Critics like Jones have attacked the transportation plan for "abandonment of certain highway widening projects, particularly in North County," instead favoring the managed lanes approach that converts existing lanes rather than building new capacity.

Despite the criticism, some key projects remain in the pipeline. SANDAG is still moving forward with the I-15/SR-78 Managed Lanes Connector project, which will add three miles of managed lanes on SR-78 between the I-15 interchange and San Marcos Boulevard, along with direct connector ramps. That $450 million project is expected to begin construction in 2030.

SANDAG staff held a community workshop on the draft plan in City Heights on Thursday, where KC Gupta, executive director of the People's Platform San Diego, a youth-led movement to fight climate change, attended. His organization has launched a campaign urging SANDAG to reprogram $22.5 million in funding to study highway projects, which it says are not guaranteed to actually get built. Instead, the group supports using those funds to immediately increase bus and trolley frequencies and make other improvements to existing transit services.

Gupta expressed concerns about SANDAG's track record on transit promises. Citing the Rapid 215 bus from SDSU to downtown San Diego, he said: "What we got was a route no faster than the route it replaced. (The city of) San Diego had to pay for the bus lanes, and we never got all-door boarding. So SANDAG has promised us a lot in the past, but they haven't delivered on their promises."

Key Plan Features

The Draft 2025 Regional Plan focuses on delivering more convenient, equitable, healthy, and safe transportation choices in the San Diego region. Major components include:

• Transit Improvements: Rapid bus lines and enhanced trolley services
• Managed Lanes Network: A complete network of Managed Lanes to improve highway traffic flow and travel reliability
• On-Demand Transportation: 36 flexible fleet service areas offering community shuttles
• Regional Programs: Youth Opportunity Pass, safety investments, and a regional vanpool program

Timeline and Next Steps

SANDAG hosted a series of public learning sessions across the region through July 2025, including sessions in East County, North County Inland, South County, Central San Diego (City Heights), and a virtual session for unincorporated areas.

The Draft Environmental Impact Report for the 2025 Regional Plan will be released for public comment later this summer. Over the fall, SANDAG will respond to public comments and make final refinements to the plan, which will be brought to its Board of Directors for consideration by the end of 2025.

The SANDAG board of directors must officially adopt the plan by the end of the year to continue receiving state and federal transportation dollars.

Context and Historical Perspective

The Regional Plan is a long-term planning document that is updated every four years to address the transportation, infrastructure, land use, housing and environmental needs of the region. SANDAG uses the latest available data, including the travel data they collect themselves, to develop and evaluate the plan.

The current plan represents a significant departure from previous decades of highway-focused transportation planning in San Diego County. State regulators are scrutinizing freeway expansion projects more than ever before, and recent changes to state and federal regulations have made achieving climate goals more difficult than in years past.

Part of the reason for the smaller scope is slower population growth, which means planning for fewer people, according to Meier. The plan also incorporates post-pandemic travel data that shows different transportation patterns than pre-2020 projections.

---

ANALYSIS: What Lane Conversions Mean for Regular Drivers

The Numbers

• 93 miles of NEW managed lanes (actual additions) - $2.1 billion
• 259 miles of CONVERTED managed lanes (from existing lanes) - $2.1 billion
• Total managed lanes: 352 miles

What Are "Managed Lanes"?

Based on San Diego's I-15 model:

• Free access: Carpools 2+ people), vanpools, buses, motorcycles
• Paid access: Solo drivers who pay dynamic tolls ($0.50 to $4.00+ based on congestion)
• Technology: Variable pricing that changes every 6 minutes based on traffic demand

Impact on Solo Driver Commuters

Critical Unknown: SANDAG has not disclosed whether the 259 miles of conversions come from existing HOV lanes (which solo drivers already couldn't use) or existing general purpose lanes (which would be a net loss for regular drivers).

If conversions are primarily from HOV lanes:

• Minimal impact on regular drivers
• Actually provides new paid option for faster travel

If conversions include general purpose lanes:

• Net loss of "free" lanes for solo drivers
• Forces choice between paying tolls or using potentially more congested remaining lanes

Financial Impact

For Regular Solo Drivers:

• Must pay $1-8+ per day for express lane access
• Annual cost could range from $250-2,000+ depending on usage
• Alternative: Use potentially more congested general purpose lanes

Current I-15 Data:

• Generates $2.2 million annually
• 75% of users are HOV (free), 25% pay tolls

Freeways Planned for Managed Lanes

• I-15 corridor (expanding existing system)
• SR-78 (new 3-mile segment, extending to 14 total miles)
• I-805 (North and South segments)
• I-5 (North Coast Corridor connections)
• SR-52, SR-76, SR-94 (various segments)

The Bottom Line

SANDAG's strategy creates a two-tiered highway system where faster travel requires either carpooling or paying tolls, while "free" solo driving may become slower and more congested. The approach generates revenue for transit while meeting climate goals by discouraging single-occupancy vehicle trips.

---

Sources

Primary Sources:

1. Bowen, Andrew. "SANDAG pares back freeway expansions in draft transportation plan." KPBS Public Media, July 10, 2025. https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2025/07/10/sandag-pares-back-freeway-expansions-draft-transportation-plan
2. San Diego Association of Governments. "SANDAG Seeks Public Input on Blueprint for Future of Transportation in the San Diego Region." May 27, 2025. https://www.sandag.org/news/news-release-sandag-seeks-public-input-on-blueprint-for-future-of-transportation-2025-05-27
3. San Diego Association of Governments. "Regional Plan." https://www.sandag.org/regional-plan

Additional News Coverage: 4. California Construction News. "SANDAG releases draft 2025 regional plan: $126 billion vision to transform San Diego transportation, open for public comment through July 18." June 2, 2025. https://www.californiaconstructionnews.com/2025/06/02/sandag-releases-draft-2025-regional-plan-126-billion-vision-to-transform-san-diego-transportation-open-for-public-comment-through-july-18/

5. Bowen, Andrew. "SANDAG considers 200 miles of new freeway lanes in next transportation plan." KPBS Public Media, February 8, 2024. https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2024/02/08/sandag-considers-200-miles-new-freeway-lanes-next-regional-transportation-plan
6. Bowen, Andrew. "SANDAG transportation plan forces debate over costs of climate action." KPBS Public Media, December 11, 2021. https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2021/12/09/sandag-transportation-plan-forces-debate-over-costs-of-climate-action

Official SANDAG Documents: 7. San Diego Association of Governments. "Final Amended 2021 Regional Plan." https://www.sandag.org/regional-plan/2021-regional-plan/final-2021-regional-plan

8. San Diego Association of Governments. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Targets." https://www.sandag.org/regional-plan/sustainable-growth-and-development/greenhouse-gas-emission-targets
9. San Diego Association of Governments. "Regional Climate Action Planning." https://www.sandag.org/projects-and-programs/environment/climate/regional-climate-action-planning
10. San Diego Association of Governments. "Public Comment Form: Draft 2025 Regional Plan." https://engage.sandag.org/public-comment-form-draft-2025-regional-plan

Related Coverage: 11. The Coast News. "SANDAG to update transportation plan without road usage charge." July 22, 2022. https://thecoastnews.com/sandag-to-update-transportation-plan-without-road-usage-charge/

12. 10News. "Plan for trolley connecting San Diego to Tijuana moves forward." October 11, 2022. https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/plan-for-trolley-connecting-san-diego-to-tijuana-moves-forward

SANDAG pares back freeway expansions in draft transportation plan | KPBS Public Media