Poway City Council: Espola Road won’t be widened

By Steve Dreyer

While some improvements may be coming to a section of Espola Road, they will not include its widening, members of the City Council agreed Tuesday night.

Following more than an hour of public testimony, the council voted unanimously to certify a thick Environmental Impact Report prepared over the past 10 years at a cost of nearly $2 million. The report addresses issues related to a larger proposed road improvement project, one that includes the addition of a continuous left-hand turn lane along a 1.2-mile segment of the road, along with sound and retaining walls and storm drainage improvements. The project would affect the road between a point just south of Titan Way to Twin Peaks Road

Council members made it clear Tuesday night they were not interested in those parts of the proposed $14 million project. However, unanimous interest was shown in the city eventually proceeding with the construction of sidewalks on the west side of the road and the undergrounding of utility poles. Since environmental assessments would be needed to proceed with those two portions, the council proceeded with certification of the full EIR.

City Manager Penny Riley said a work plan to proceed with the sidewalk and undergrounding will be presented to the council in the fall.

Billed as a “Town Hall,” the council met at Twin Peaks Middle School to be closer to Espola Road residents. About 100 people showed up, with two dozen sharing their thoughts on the road project. Most spoke either against the entire EIR or supported only a sidewalk to improve pedestrian safety. Several stressed they wanted the city to maintain road’s rural nature. Others were adamant that the EIR attempted to solve a congestion “problem” that really doesn’t exist, except for a short time in the morning before Poway High School classes begin.

The report proposes “spending millions and millions of dollars on a problem that only exists in a traffic planner’s computer,” neighbor Martyn Whittaker told the council.

Mayor Don Higginson said it would be a “disservice to the public not to certify the EIR” even though he did not favor proceeding with the full project. He and other council members endorsed the idea of picking and choosing smaller projects.

That approach satisfied Councilman Steve Vaus, who initially declared he wanted to “drive a stake through the EIR’s heart.”