Interchange revamp in gear: State Route 92, El Camino Real project underway

“It’s exciting to see all the work done on paper begin,” said Brad Underwood, San Mateo’s Public Works director. “In a year from now, we’ll hopefully have a safer, less congested interchange.”

Realigning the juncture of these two state-owned highways has been touted as having both safety as well as operational benefits. The project will realign the ramps while eliminating the tedious short weaving distance between those entering and exiting the highway. Two new stoplights will also be added at El Camino Real intersections to help reduce vehicles backing onto State Route 92, which frequently happens blocking one of just two westbound highway lanes.

Crews are removing trees now to avoid bird nesting season, and it’s not exactly clear when construction on the new ramps will begin. Caltrans and the city are expected to meet for an update on the schedule, lane closures and potential detours, Underwood said.

The plans include doing away with the current, outdated full cloverleaf design, and replacing it with a partial-clover interchange, according to Caltrans.

“It’s one of the older designs, we’re moving away from those as much as we can. The more modern interchanges have more of a straight ramp and we found that does a lot to relieve congestion and get traffic flowing more, and that’s going to be really important,” said Caltrans District 4 spokesman Robert Haus. “Traffic doesn’t show any signs of decreasing soon. We’re getting more traffic all the time and the more we can do, the better.”

State Route 92 has become increasingly congested as one of San Mateo County’s and the Peninsula’s few connections to the East Bay.

“It’s definitely a major interchange, a key access of the 92 freeway to go to Hillsdale mall, or downtown, and there’s a lot of businesses on the corridor as well,” Underwood said. “It’s a well-used interchange and sees a lot of traffic every day.”

Caltrans is responsible for design and construction on the state-owned right-of-way, although the city has worked closely on the project as well.

Recently, neighbors in the northeast quadrant of the interchange worried that realigning it and removing trees would increase noise to Ivy Street residents. Although an environmental review found mitigation wasn’t required, San Mateo opted to try and work with Caltrans to find a solution. Now, San Mateo staff is recommending the City Council approve an additional $300,000 in city funding for Caltrans to construct a sound wall, Underwood said.

The exact schedule has yet to be established, although Caltrans will have about 170 days to finalize the project once construction begins, Underwood said.

Haus said he doesn’t anticipate a full closure of the interchange, although various exits or entrances must be closed at different stages.

In the meantime, crews are working to clear out trees and vegetation, while “making every effort to remove as few trees as possible. We don’t want to have to tear things out if we don’t have to,” he said.

While both the city and Caltrans are excited to begin construction on the project that’s been more than a decade in the planning, there have been a few bumps along the way.

The collaborative project was awarded $5 million from the State Transportation Improvement Program, which has suffered since a crisis level drop in gas tax revenue. Last year, the California Transportation Commission had to cut $754 million in projects and delay another $755 million in allocations.

Initially, the San Mateo project was one of many throughout the state to have its already allocated funding deferred and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority offered to loan the $5 million to keep the project on track.

But last November, San Mateo’s shovel-ready project became one of just four throughout California to have funds advanced earlier than expected since the CTC announced the drastic drop in revenue for infrastructure spending.

Noting Caltrans as a state agency isn’t very involved in financing, Haus said he’s pleased to see the San Mateo project in gear.

“That’s always the big variable, is the funding. Will it be available? So any time that you get the word the funding has come through, that’s always a big relief,” Haus said. “We can work on the things we can do, the engineering and construction, but the funding, it’s out of our hands. Once that’s resolved, we think, ‘OK, now we can get to work.’”

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