Interstate 5 Express Lanes - San Diego County

[andy3175]

Update on the construction of the high occupancy vehicle express lanes along Interstate 5:

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/caltrans-begins-work-on-new-carpool-lanes-along-i-5-in-north-county/2742285/

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/carlsbad/story/2021-10-13/i-5-widening-project-spreads-north-into-carlsbad

A reduced speed limit of 55 mph will be enforced on Interstate 5 between Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad and state route 78 in Oceanside beginning Sunday (October 17, 2021), as construction begins on 4 miles of new carpool and HOV lanes.

The $110 million construction project is an extension of the freeway work that has been under way for nearly two years in Encinitas and Solana Beach. The new lanes are part of the $887 million regional North Coast Corridor transportation  improvement program, with projects that vary from environmental restoration to building a second set of coastal railroad tracks.

In addition to reduced speed limits, freeway travelers will see, for the first time in California, orange stripes along and between the traditional white stripes on the pavement. ... Two different patterns will be used for the highly visible orange stripes, one for  northbound lanes and the other for southbound. Color-coded stripes have been used successfully in three other states – Wisconsin, Texas and Kentucky, according to Caltrans. ...

The two new HOV lanes, one in each direction, will be in the center of the freeway, on the driver's far left, and will bring the total number of lanes to 10. The new lanes being completed in Solana Beach should be open by the end of 2021, and the segment beginning this month in Carlsbad should be open by the end of 2022, Kosup said. Additional improvements that are part of the project included bike paths, sound walls and landscaping, and should be finished by the end of 2023.

Official page: https://keepsandiegomoving.com/I-5-Corridor/I-5-EL-Introduction.aspx, complete with visual simulations: https://www.keepsandiegomoving.com/Libraries/Lossan-doc/SAN_I5_Visual_Simulations_ALL.sflb.ashx

Orange pavement markings are covered elsewhere in the Forum, including this thread about the orange markings added at the Zoo Interchange in Milwaukee during construction: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=14127.0

[Plutonic Panda]

Another section of new I-5 HOV lanes is set to open Monday:

Caltrans officials announced Sunday that the construction of four remaining new miles of carpool lanes on Interstate 5 in North County will be completed Monday.

The new northbound lanes, between Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad and State Route 78 in Oceanside, will connect to the existing nine miles of HOV lanes on I-5 from Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach to Palomar Airport Road, the agency said.

The new southbound HOV lanes have been open since June 14.

- https://timesofsandiego.com/life/2023/06/25/northbound-carpool-lanes-leading-to-sr-78-latest-i-5-project-to-be-completed/