SANDAG Looks at Removing Tolls on SR-125 . . . Again
The South Bay Expressway is the only freeway in San Diego County that is only accessible by paying a toll.
I received the following email from Marianne Delatorre last evening (September 10th at 6:06PM). Marianne is the Senior Community Representative for the Office of Supervisor Paloma Aguirre | District One. She works in the communities of National City, Lincoln Acres, Bonita-Sunnyside, and Chula Vista.
"I want to share an update about SR-125. After Thursday’s State of Bonita, Supervisor Aguirre brought out the concerns of Bonita residents as her first priority at Friday’s SANDAG meeting on September 4. As a result, they are bringing this presentation about a plan to remove the tolls forward to tomorrow’s SANDAG meeting from 9:00am-12:30pm at the SANDAG Boardroom, 1011 Union Street, First Floor, San Diego, CA 92101.
This will be Item 4 on tomorrow’s agenda found here. Supervisor Aguirre values the community’s input and invites Bonita-Sunnyside residents to share public comment at the meeting having heard the impact of traffic congestion on their residential streets due to SR-125. Public comments can be made in person or virtually or submitted online. Visit SANDAG.org/meetingassistance for instructions.
You can view Supervisor’s remarks through this clip here (at 22:31) from last Friday’s SANDAG meeting about elevating the SR-125 Toll Road issue. Supervisor Aguirre specifically asks about how long we will have the toll, and emphasizes its impact to quality of life for Bonita residents who are impacted by diverted traffic from the SR-125 to the San Miguel Road.
Please feel free to share widely and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Thank you,
Marianne"
Here are the three pages from the staff report to be presented at today's 09.11.26 SANDAG meeting:
Click on images to enlarge
Back in October of 2024, there was a big push from South Bay leaders to pay off the SANDAG debt on the SR 125 and make the the FREEway FREE, like every other FREEway in San Diego County.
Roughly 54,000 drivers use the state Route 125 toll road each day, but local leaders believe that number should – and would – be much higher if people didn’t have to pay to use it. The 10-mile extension through Chula Vista was purchased by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) in 2011. The tolls are supposed to be used to maintain the road, but multiple audits have found problems with the systems used to collect the tolls, which resulted in tens of thousands of drivers being incorrectly charged."—Audra Stafford | October 24, 2024 | 7 San Diego
What is the Cost of Using the Toll Road?
You can figure out the cost of your travel by entering your starting and ending location on the SANDAG Toll Calculator.
Where Are We Now?
Notice that the can appears to be kicked a little farther down the road. We were given the false impression that 2027 would be the end of our traffic nightmare in Bonita-Sunnyside. 2029-2030 seems like such a long time to wait.
The Huge Elephant Standing in the Middle of the Room
Project Manager Robert Sanchez, San Diego County Department of Public Works, confirmed on 09.08.26 that 18,800 vehicles per day are traveling on Bonita roads. The majority of this number is toll-avoidance traffic using the San Miguel Ranch Road /Proctor Valley Road connector. It drops nearly 19,000 cars and trucks on Bonita roads daily . . . adding speeding cars, additional noise and untold pollution to these rural roadways.
I would like you to follow along as I do a little basic Math.
Let's just estimate the average toll at $3.00 per day. Times that by the number of people cutting through the small town of Bonita-Sunnyside and you get the following results:
Per day . . . . . $56,400 lost revenue
Per week . . . .$394,800 lost revenue
Per month . . . $1,692,000 lost revenue
Per year . . . . .$20,586,000 lost revenue
By closing off the San Miguel Ranch Road / Bonita Proctor Valley Road connector, cars would be forced to remain on the toll road and approximately $20M lost revenue would be reclaimed per year. This would satisfy the estimated remaining funds of $17.9M due for the July 1, 2027 call date. The remaining debt could be paid off in its entirety in 2027.
Please take just a few minutes to leave a comment on today's SANDAG meeting.
toll removal is overdue. but if it was simpler, like $1 per use I would use it.