California State Route 52
State Route 52 is a state highway in San Diego County, California, United States. It extends from La Jolla Parkway at Interstate 5 in La Jolla, San Diego, to SR 67 in Santee. It is a freeway for its entire length and serves as a major east–west route through the northern part of the city of San Diego. The road connects the major north–south freeways of the county, including I-5, I-805, SR 163, I-15, SR 125, and SR 67. SR 52 passes north of the Rose Canyon Fault before traversing Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. East of Santo Road and west of SR 125, the highway goes through Mission Trails Regional Park, a large open preserve. SR 52 is also known as the Soledad Freeway and the San Clemente Canyon Freeway.
Plans for a route between La Jolla and Santee date from 1959, and SR 52 was officially designated in the 1964 state highway renumbering. Construction began in 1966 at the I-5 interchange with Ardath Road leading to La Jolla. It continued with the construction of San Clemente Canyon Road, which was later widened to become SR 52. The freeway was completed east to I-805 in 1970, and was built in two stages from there to Santo Road east of I-15; the last phase was completed in 1988.
The freeway east of Santo Road encountered delays from environmentalists over the endangered least Bell's vireo, a songbird which faced habitat destruction, as well as those concerned with the destruction of homes and businesses for the freeway right-of-way. The extension to Mission Gorge Road opened in 1993, and SR 52 was completed to SR 125 in 1998. Funding issues delayed the completion of the entire route until 2011, more than fifty years after construction began; until then, the city of Santee faced traffic snarls. A widening project was completed in 2007 between Santo Road and Mast Boulevard; further expansion has been put on hold due to state budget concerns.
Route description
SR 52 begins just west of I-5 at the eastern end of La Jolla Parkway. Before entering San Clemente Canyon, part of Marian Bear Natural Park, the road becomes a freeway as it intersects I-5. The freeway runs north of the Rose Canyon Fault, composed of Late Cretaceous rock estimated to be 90 million years old, and Mount Soledad. Following exits with Clairemont Mesa Boulevard / Regents Road and Genesee Avenue, SR 52 intersects I-805 before exiting the canyon and traveling along the southern edge of the MCAS Miramar military base.From I-805 to SR 163, the highway goes through an area with visible Pliocene sedimentary rocks estimated to be 10 million years old. After passing the Miramar Recycling Center and an interchange with Convoy Street, SR 52 intersects SR 163, a freeway heading towards downtown San Diego. SR 52 intersects Kearny Villa Road before an interchange with I-15. A collector/distributor road serves these three interchanges.
After this interchange, the freeway leaves the edge of the military base and enters the San Diego neighborhood of Tierrasanta, where there is a junction with Santo Road, before traversing Mission Trails Regional Park, an open space preserve, for a few miles. The freeway ascends to Mission Trails Pass, north of the summit of Fortuna Mountain. The mountain is part of the Peninsular Range; the highway cuts through Eocene rocks estimated to be 50 million years old and marine fossils. The road on the eastern side of the mountain is carved out of "igneous granitic rocks" that are thought to be 150 million years old, an unusual formation compared to the Eocene layer.
A dedicated two-way bicycle path exists on the northern side of the roadway between Santo Road and Mast Boulevard, with access possible from both termini. East of the Mast Boulevard interchange, SR 52 crosses and begins to parallel the San Diego River. The freeway enters the city of Santee, where SR 52 was built alongside Mission Gorge Road. SR 52 intersects the northern end of SR 125, where SR 52 traffic can exit south onto SR 125. The freeway continues east through Santee, with interchanges at Fanita Drive, Cuyamaca Street, and Magnolia Avenue, before it comes to an end at SR 67.
SR 52 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System. In 2016, Caltrans officially designated the segment adjacent to Mission Trails Regional Park between Santo Road and Mast Boulevard as a scenic highway. SR 52 is also part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. The entire route is known as both the Soledad Freeway and the San Clemente Canyon Freeway. In 2013, SR 52 had an annual average daily traffic of 69,000 at the eastern terminus with SR 67, and 103,000 between Convoy Street and SR 163, the lowest and the highest AADT for the highway, respectively.
History
In 1959, Legislative Route 279 was designated as a highway from La Jolla to Santee and incorporated into the California Freeway and Expressway System. In the 1964 state highway renumbering, this became SR 52. However, SR 52 took more than fifty years to be constructed, due to delays in the planning and construction phases.I-5 to I-805
A public hearing on Legislative Route 279 and on the Ardath Road connection to La Jolla was held on November 15, 1961. At the hearing, there were concerns expressed regarding destruction of vegetation. City and state officials indicated that the Soledad Freeway would be constructed in the northern part of the canyon to minimize environmental damage. On November 9, 1966, the I-5 interchange with Ardath Road opened at the western end of what would become SR 52. The original goal was to connect the interchange with San Clemente Canyon Road, which served as a predecessor to SR 52; plans were to widen the road to four lanes and designate it as SR 52. The connecting ramps were not opened that day because the aluminum guard rails had not been delivered on time. Estimates indicated that each resident of La Jolla would save 80 hours per year by using Ardath Road. A ramp from southbound I-5 to westbound Ardath Road was never completed because of a hairpin turn that would be necessary due to the towering cliff on the west side of I-5 that Ardath Road ascends as it continues to La Jolla. On November 18, San Clemente Canyon Road was connected to I-5 when the aluminum guard rails arrived and were subsequently installed. San Clemente Canyon Road was not fully opened until 1967. That year, citizens expressed opposition to the construction of the Soledad Freeway because some wanted the land to be used for a park, and did not view the freeway as "necessary."Formal bids began in February 1969 for the first section of SR 52 between I-5 and I-805. The state ordered the construction of this section on April 28, 1969. On Thursday, May 28, 1970, the Soledad Freeway opened, connecting Regents Road and Genesee Avenue with I-5; however, it did not connect to the unopened I-805. The road was built by Kasler, Ball and Yeager for $3.9 million. The construction firm deposited dirt into "an unnamed finger canyon" against the conditions of the city permit, and the city ordered the firm to remove it. The section of I-805 from SR 52 to El Cajon Boulevard was scheduled to be dedicated on March 20, 1972.
Ardath Road was renamed La Jolla Parkway on October 15, 2002, for two reasons: a nearby residential street was also named Ardath Road, and there was a desire to draw attention to this primary route to downtown La Jolla. This required the city of San Diego to pay $20,000 to replace the signs on SR 52.
I-805 to Santo Road
The second phase of SR 52 from I-805 to past U.S. Route 395 was projected to cost $29.4 million. The new freeway was to provide access to Tierrasanta and reduce the traffic on I-8. The U.S. Navy was consulted in the planning process due to the road's proposed routing through what was then NAS Miramar that would provide a delineation against further urban development. There were no concerns expressed at the public hearing on November 17, 1970; however, construction did not begin for more than ten years, as California governor Jerry Brown stalled the construction of SR 52 from Santo Road to SR 67. In 1977, the county supervisor, a San Diego City councilman, and the mayors of La Mesa and National City wrote a letter to Brown to ask for the construction of this portion of SR 125 and other freeways, due to concerns about the types of congestion seen in Los Angeles coming to San Diego due to the incomplete freeway system. San Diego City Councilman Tom Gade wrote a telegram to Caltrans Director Adriana Gianturco about the possible deletions; in response, Gianturco clarified that the plans were only being reconsidered and had not been removed, and a CHC member criticized the tone of the original telegram, calling it "intemperate". In 1984, Leo Trombatore, the Caltrans Director under California governor George Deukmejian, requested to the California Transportation Commission that "formal studies toward this end be initiated immediately. Route 52 has a high statewide priority." The CTC followed the director's wishes, approving the studies.The first part of this phase, from I-805 to Convoy Street, began construction in December 1986. It was dedicated at a community celebration on July 11, 1987, and was scheduled to open to traffic a few weeks later. The first callboxes in San Diego County were installed on SR 52 near Convoy Street on June 20, 1988. On June 30, 1988, SR 52 from Convoy Street to Santo Road opened to traffic. The I-15 interchange was built with state funds from the CTC.
In 2000, Hazard Construction Company added a single westbound lane on SR 52 from SR 163 to I-805, a distance of, at a cost of $1.7 million. In 2006, the Metropolitan Transit System, in cooperation with the San Diego Association of Governments, Caltrans, and the California Highway Patrol, began a pilot program to run transit buses along the shoulders of SR 52 between Kearny Villa Road and I-805. During rush hour, buses were able to use these shoulders to bypass slow traffic in the main lanes. The trial was considered successful as more than 99 percent of trips arrived on time, customer feedback was favorable and no safety concerns were encountered. On May 9, 2007, The San Diego Union-Tribune published a story which raised reader concerns about a dangerous dip in the freeway. The dip had developed in a section of the highway constructed on top of the Miramar Landfill, and had been caused by trash settling; it was repaired by the next day.