Espola Road Expansion Project on Poway City Council Agenda

A longrunning effort to expand Espola Road to ease congestion near Poway High School and increase safety could move forward if the Poway City Council certifies the project's Environmental Impact Report on Tuesday.

The approval would not guarantee that any part or all of the proposed $14 million project would happen, but a council vote is a required part of the process.

The council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. in a special location—the Twin Peaks Middle School multi-purpose room, 14640 Tierra Bonita Rd. 

[See the full agenda here.]

The Espola Road Improvement Project proposal includes several elements, such as:

• Expanding Espola Road into three lanes: The project area extends along Espola Road from Twin Peaks Road south to Titan Way (by Poway High). The three-lane design would include one lane in each direction with a 12-foot-wide turn lane in-between. 
• Bigger bike lanes and sidewalks: Eight-foot-wide bike lanes along both sides of the road, along with sidewalks separated from the roadway by landscape are part of the plan. The sidewalks would be a minimum of five-feet wide. Adding sidewalk only on the west side would cost an estimated $800,000.
• New traffic signal: A new traffic light would be installed at the intersection of Espola Road and Durhullen Drive/Golden Sunset Lane at an estimated cost of $300,000.
• Upgrading the storm drain system: The drainage system has "deteriorated significantly" over time and is undersized in many locations, according to the report. Upgrading the system would require acquiring a total of nearly 19,000-square feet from 28 private residential lots.