District: District 11 — San Diego and Imperial Counties
Contact: Stephen Welborn
Phone: (619) 688-6670
SAN DIEGO — The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) today announced the opening of new High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in each direction on State Route 56 (SR-56) between El Camino Real and Carmel Valley Road. The $28 million project will increase local street and regional mobility, reduce the incentive to use local streets as a bypass for congestion, and create a facility that supports future transit.
“Improving regional mobility and providing transportation options is the priority of this project,” said District 11 Director Ann Fox. “In addition to the new HOV lanes, this project will create a facility that supports future transit options and other multi-modal options.”
The HOV lanes are intended for use with vehicles that have two or more passengers, motorcycles, and clean air stickered vehicles.
Funding for the project came from federal transportation dollars, the city of San Diego and the TransNet tax.
Part of the vision for SR-56 is a new bike path connection that opened in May 2024. The new bike and pedestrian connector under Interstate 5 linked the eight-mile SR-56 bike path to the thirty-mile North Coast bile trial and the Sorrento Valley Transit Station.
The new HOV lanes are one phase of a two-phase infrastructure improvement plan. Phase two plans to construct a direct connector from westbound SR-56 to northbound I-5, enhance the Del Mar Heights Road overcrossing, and add a westbound lane on SR-56.