Delay after delay has caused eight blocks of University Avenue in City Heights to be torn up by construction work for more than two years, prompting an outcry from merchants, residents and community leaders.
Some say the much-maligned project should be seen as a cautionary tale of unintended consequences and the havoc the city can wreak on a neighborhood with ambitious plans to make it a better place.
The $13 million in upgrades aim to make the previously dangerous stretch of University safer and more attractive, with new medians, roundabouts, wider sidewalks and street trees.
But inaccurate construction drawings and other problems pushed the estimated completion date from last August to January, and now city officials have delayed that again to sometime this spring.
Merchants say the intermittent closures of both the eastbound and westbound lanes have dramatically reduced foot traffic and walk-ins. They’ve also been deprived of the chance for new customers to spot their business while driving by.
“It’s been pretty rough,” said Andrew Lopez, who owns Cafeina Cafe just off University. “A lot of our regulars tell us they can’t get to the business because of the construction.”
Other businesses whose owners have complained publicly include Key & Cleaver, Dan’s Smog Check, Ryan Bros Coffee and SANPA Barbershop. The construction extends from Fairmount Avenue to Euclid Avenue.
The problems have gotten the attention of the City Heights Community Development Corporation, which asked the city to make significant changes, and of Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who represents the area.
“We understand the complicated nature of large infrastructure projects in big business districts, and the benefits this project will bring, but there continue to be unacceptable impacts to our community — especially locally owned businesses,” Elo-Rivera said last week on Instagram.
Elo-Rivera said he’s particularly worried about the complete closure of both eastbound and westbound lanes on that stretch of University Avenue that began Jan. 23 and is expected to last into late March.
“We have significant concerns about the nine-week closure as it relates to business viability,” he said.
He mentioned a particular concern about the potential impact on activities connected to Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of prayer and fasting that begins in late February. City Heights has one of San Diego’s largest Muslim populations.
Graham Wolfe, who lives in the area, thinks the neighborhood’s diversity and relatively low-income demographics have played a role in the project being behind schedule.
“I can’t see this happening in a more affluent neighborhood,” he said. “I think the business owners deserve better.”
Wolfe understands the city has run into some problems but said that doesn’t explain all the delays. “There’s so many days when no one is working on it,” he said.
City officials say the most significant source of delay has been the discovery within the project footprint of an active San Diego Gas & Electric vault that did not appear on construction maps.
When crews discovered the vault two months into construction in March 2023, they had to dramatically shift many elements of their schedule, because the vault conflicted with planned storm drain upgrades.
Total relocation efforts by SDG&E took approximately 15 months, officials said.
Crews are now installing bulb-outs, sidewalks and a center median for a roundabout at University and Chamoune Avenues, said Tyler Becker, a city spokesperson. That work prompted the nine-week closure of University and is requiring several detour routes.
The eastbound detour takes drivers north on Highland Avenue to El Cajon Boulevard, where they go east to Menlo Avenue and then south back to University. The westbound detour takes drivers north on Menlo to El Cajon Boulevard, where they go west to Highland and then south back to University.
“When the current work at the intersection of University and Chamoune is completed, which is expected to be at the end of March, the majority of construction will be finished, but minor elements and project cleanup will be completed in the weeks after,” Becker said.
He also noted that the schedule is vulnerable to unforeseen challenges or delays.
The project has been touted as a key step toward meeting the city’s Vision Zero goals — reducing the number of pedestrian deaths in traffic crashes to zero.
“University Avenue between Fairmount and Euclid has one of the highest densities of pedestrian crashes in the City of San Diego,” pedestrian and transit advocacy group Circulate San Diego says on its website. “The City has initiated a complete street project to improve the safety of all modes of travel.”
In addition to wider sidewalks and roundabouts to slow down traffic, the project will include rectangular rapid flashing beacons at crosswalks and signals called HAWKs.
At a HAWK, pedestrians press a button so that approaching drivers see flashing yellow lights, then solid yellow lights and then red lights.
The project also includes curb extensions to shorten crossing distances.
