If you’ve driven under I-5 at our neighboring cities to the south, you might have noticed some of the underpasses include artistic features, wide sidewalks and other elements that make them light and inviting. It's now the city's turn to remake one of our main freeway underpasses, and that work is getting started next month.

The North Coast Corridor Project, which you might recognize as “Build NCC” from signs along the I-5, is a years-long, multi-part project headed up by Caltrans and the San Diego Association of Governments. Most people think about the project as the I-5 widening project, but it also includes several projects designed to enhance communities along the freeway.

 

  

• Back in October of 2019, the City Council selected the Chestnut underpass for this project.
• The other option was Carlsbad Village Drive.
• The Carlsbad Village Drive location would have been more complex to execute due to its location at a freeway on-ramp and off-ramp, the nearby gas station, traffic signals at the intersections and the drainage system.
• Plus, the Chestnut underpass links two city parks (and Chase Field) and serves as a main gateway to the city’s historical Barrio area.

SANDAG and Caltrans are working together to fund and build the improvements, which will include:

• Bike lanes and parking separated by a buffer
• Doubling the width of sidewalks
• Moving curbs to provide better pedestrian crossings
• Improved landscaping, with native shrubs, groundcovers and street trees
• Enhanced landscaping facing Holiday Park
• New retaining walls (to make room for the widened sidewalks)
• Additional fencing
• Shielded LED street lighting
• New lighting under the bridge
• Cobblestone paving

Here’s an initial schematic of the project. The plan is to cut into the sloped walls and build retaining walls to create more space. Parking will still be allowed under the underpass as it is today.

The city will share updates on the construction schedule, including any planned lane closures or other temporary inconveniences. The underpass is scheduled to be closed just twice during the project, for about 56 hours each time, to allow paving to set. The improvements should be completed by the summer of 2025.

You can sign up to be notified about projects around the Barrio area if you’d like to get this info emailed to you as it happens.