Skip to main content

Transit hub promised in San Diego area

San Diego North County’s Interstate 15 corridor is best known for its flood of freeway traffic, not its mass transit stations. This is due to change next year, when the Sabre Springs/Penasquitos transit station, just east of I-15 on Sabre Springs Parkway, is set to undergo a US$12.2 million face-lift that will include a four-storey parking garage, electric vehicle charging stations, electronic next bus signs and even some smart parking spaces. “This will be our flagship station,” said Frank Owsiany, who ov
January 18, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
San Diego North County’s Interstate 15 corridor is best known for its flood of freeway traffic, not its mass transit stations.  This is due to change next year, when the Sabre Springs/Penasquitos transit station, just east of I-15 on Sabre Springs Parkway, is set to undergo a US$12.2 million face-lift that will include a four-storey parking garage, electric vehicle charging stations, electronic next bus signs and even some smart parking spaces.

 “This will be our flagship station,” said Frank Owsiany, who oversees station improvements along the inland corridor for the 1789 San Diego Association of Governments, the region’s transportation planning agency.

Construction on what is said to be the ultimate I-15 transit hub, is expected to begin by late February or early March and should last about a year, Owsiany said.

The project is timed to be ready for the early 2014 launch of an expanded rapid bus service along I-15. That service promises to increase the frequency and shorten the routes of express buses that ferry passengers from stations in Escondido, Rancho Bernardo and other points south along the I-15 Express Lanes to job centers in Sorrento Valley and downtown San Diego.

The Sabre Springs project will require the closure of the station’s 150 parking spaces, which will be temporarily replaced at three park and rides along Sabre Springs Parkway. Owsiany said the station ramps that connect drivers to the freeway’s express lanes will remain open during construction.

Once complete, the parking garage will offer 537 spaces to go along with 93 additional surface lot spaces. Solar panels will be added on top of the structure, providing shade for cars on the top level, as well as providing a power source, he said.

Owsiany added that drivers will be able to call and reserve smart parking spots inside the station, where stalls will be lighted either green or red to show whether they have been reserved.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cost Benefit: Don’t waste your energy
    October 28, 2021
    There are ways that we can harvest power from the world’s roads – without necessarily building new infrastructure. David Crawford investigates some of these new approaches
  • Freight poses growing problem for city authorities
    March 3, 2017
    Wes Guckert considers possible solutions and countermeasures to the problems of increased freight deliveries in growing cities. In January 2016, the US Department of Transportation (USDoT) conducted a session on the SmartCity Challenge and Urban Freight and Logistics. This session was a follow-up to the USDoT report titled, Beyond Traffic 2045.
  • Cost benefit: Wichita eases workzone congestion
    July 8, 2019
    Achieving higher diversion rates has helped one Kansas city to make traffic flow more efficient around workzones. David Crawford examines what’s behind a 10:1 benefit-to-cost ratio in Wichita Around 10% of highway congestion in the US results from delays in workzones, leading to an estimated annual loss of $700 million in fuel costs alone. The lack of accessible real-time traffic information to help motorists minimise their inconvenience – particularly at peak times - is a major contributor. One solut
  • Audi launches wireless parking pilot project
    May 23, 2013
    Audi is extending its Audi connect services, further promoting networking between car, driver and infrastructure. The trial phase for Audi connect wireless payment is currently getting underway in Ingolstadt, Germany. The solution allows drivers to conveniently pay for parking from their car. In a wide-ranging pilot which is now being launched in Ingolstadt, the new technology will first be tested and the acceptance of the service proven in practice over the next few months. Up to 13,000 cars will participa