FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021

CONTACT:
MayorPress@sandiego.gov

SAN DIEGO As part of his efforts to improve infrastructure across San Diego, Mayor Todd Gloria today signed two pieces of legislation that clear the way for the City to invest roughly $293 million to repair or upgrade roads, stormwater systems, parks, recreation facilities, and libraries, as well as purchase much-needed public safety and waste-management equipment.

Mayor Gloria signed the legislation in a ceremony at Mesa Verde Park, which sits on the north side of Gold Coast Drive, a badly crumbling thoroughfare in Mira Mesa that the community has been trying to get reconstructed for years. The new funding will include $11 million to reconstruct portions of Gold Coast Drive and nearby Parkdale Avenue.

San Diego has a long, unfortunate history of neglecting its infrastructure needs. That ends with this administration, Mayor Gloria said. San Diegans deserve to live in a city they can be proud of. By signing these two resolutions today, I am setting in motion nearly $300 million for critical infrastructure projects to improve neighborhoods in all corners of San Diego. We have much more to do, but this is a first step in the right direction.

Also participating in the ceremony were City Council President Jennifer Campbell; Councilmember Chris Cate, who represents the Mira Mesa area and chairs the Councils Budget and Government Efficiency Committee; and Bari Vaz, president of the Mira Mesa Town Council.

This $293 million investment is the kind of holistic approach to making a tangible impact on the lives of San Diegans by tackling infrastructure problems that have been ignored for years, said Council President Campbell.

Since my first day in office in 2014, it has been my top priority to repair Gold Coast Drive and Parkdale Avenue, Councilmember Cate said. Throughout my past two terms, we have held two community forums, issued annual budget priority memorandums, walked door-to-door to speak with residents, and worked in concert with the Mira Mesa community to ensure their voices were heard. I thank the Mayors office for supporting our office to identify the needed funding. I look forward to beginning the total reconstruction of Gold Coast and Parkdale as soon as possible, and providing these long-needed repairs and infrastructure investments in the Mira Mesa community.

The funding breaks down into these categories:

• Public safety: $97.7 million
• Mobility and transportation: $59.4 million
• Environmental services: $50.4 million
• Stormwater: $49.6 million
• Parks and recreation: $20.7 million
• City facilities: $14.7 million
• Information technology: $550,000

The public safety funding will allow the City, during the next two years, to replace police and fire radio equipment ($56.4 million) and 34 heavy-duty fire trucks ($41.3 million) that have exceeded their useful life. The environmental services funding will allow the City to implement a new refuse and recycling collection system to comply with state requirements to recycle organic waste.

Nearly half of the funding for transportation upgrades $28.4 million will go to Mayor Glorias Sexy Streets initiative, which prioritizes road repairs in historically underserved communities. This funding supplements the roughly $10 million for road repair that Mayor Gloria included in his unanimously approved budget.

Specific projects slated to receive funding include:

• $11 million to reconstruct Gold Coast Drive and Parkdale Avenue in Mira Mesa
• $4 million to realign Alvarado Road in the College Area
• $2.7 million to repair the roof of the federal building in Balboa Park
• $2.1 million to improve public access to the coast at Bermuda Avenue in Ocean Beach
• $12.6 million to help renovate the Botanical Building in Balboa Park
• $1.7 million to plan the new Chollas Triangle Park in El Cerrito
• $1.6 million for Hickman Fields Athletic Area in Kearny Mesa
• $940,000 for libraries in Ocean Beach and San Carlos
• $250,000 for the fire station in Skyline Hills
• $40,000 for Wightman Street Neighborhood Park in City Heights
• $10.3 million to install or upgrade streetlights citywide
• $4.8 million to repair sidewalks citywide
• $280,000 to improve guard rails citywide
• $30.4 million to improve drainage citywide
• $18.7 million for watershed management citywide

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