4 things to watch in 2024 on San Diego’s infrastructure beat

Broken streetlights, public transit proposals and much-needed road improvements — there was no shortage of infrastructure news for San Diegans last year.

From a study on a commuter train for the San Diego airport to the progress of Mayor Todd Gloria’s Sexy Streets initiative, inewsource highlighted some of the region’s most prominent projects in 2023.

As we enter the New Year, here are four infrastructure issues to watch in 2024.

Increased water bills 

City of San Diego customers will see a spike in their water bills for a second and third time by 2025 — totaling up to a nearly 20% rate over two years. 

The City Council last year approved a plan to increase the rates in three increments:

• By 5% on Dec. 1, 2023
• By 5.2% on July 1
• By 8.7% on Jan. 1, 2025 

The average monthly bill for a single-family home will increase by about $12, according to estimates.

The council’s split vote was met with much opposition and criticism of the city’s water department. In addition to the rate increases, last year more than 30,000 customers had their bills withheld for months. When bills were sent out, the cumulative totals reached as much as several thousand dollars for some customers.

Staff said that bills have been withheld due in part to delays caused by billing software, which hasn’t been updated in nearly 13 years. 

The city also attributed problems to water meter investigations. 

When meter readings deviate significantly from a customer’s typical usage, the city then works to determine the cause and resolve the issue. Vastly different water usages could be caused by a leak, manual misread, a meter malfunction or another issue.

During investigations, the city withholds billing. And due to understaffing, the city said staff might not be able to investigate immediately, which could result in bills being withheld for months. 

In response, the city plans to replace 250,000 of its outdated water meters by 2029 and to hire more customer service staff.

City officials say the increase in the rates will pay for improved customer service and water infrastructure upgrades.

Other parts of San Diego County will also see increases. The Sweetwater Authority, which serves nearly 200,000 customers in National City, Bonita and parts of Chula Vista, last month approved a series of water rate increases totaling 13%. A 0.5% increase took effect on Jan. 1. A 6% increase will be implemented in 2025 and another 6.5% increase will happen in 2026.

The Escondido City Council also approved higher water rates — starting with 8% this month and between 6.5%-7.5% yearly increases over the next five years.

Pershing Drive Bikeway

Cyclists who ride in Balboa Park will finally see the Pershing Drive Bikeway open to the public this year.

A popular thoroughfare for commuters traveling north and south through the 1,200-acre park, the project will expand existing bike lanes along a 2.3-mile stretch of Pershing Drive. It also will add buffered lanes, a walking path for pedestrians and other traffic-calming measures meant to protect cyclists.

In addition to the bikeway, this project served as a way to upgrade the area’s stormwater system, such as installing bioswales — vegetation areas meant to capture, treat and filter stormwater — and replacing pipes and storm drains.

The bikeway will run along Pershing from Upas Street north of the park to C Street south of the park. At the north end, the bikeway will connect to the recently completed Landis Bikeway at Upas and Utah streets and, at the south end, to the existing C Street cycle track at 19th Street.

Construction of the $12 million bikeway began in January 2022, and since then, San Diegans have complained about the traffic congestion it has caused in the area.

The project aims to create a safer, “low-stress” thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists traveling through Balboa Park, according to government officials — especially after a man riding a scooter were fatally struck by drivers while riding along Pershing in recent years.

New airport terminal

The San Diego International Airport is scheduled to open part of its $3.4 billion Terminal 1 project later this year.

The airport’s biggest-ever project is expected to be completed by 2028, but its new five-story parking plaza will open in late 2024. It will replace the terminal’s old lot, which has been closed since June 2022.

Some 5,200 parking spaces and more than 300 bicycle spots will be available, according to airport plans. 

Officials have since opened new pedestrian and vehicle entrances, and in November completed the new terminal’s steel structure.

The new terminal will have 30 gates. Nineteen of them are expected to open in summer 2025, and the old terminal will then be demolished. The remaining 11 gates will be done by 2028.

The end of construction will be a welcome change for airport users, who have grappled with traffic congestion and delays since the project started.

One of the airport’s last construction projects was a major addition to Terminal 2, which was completed in 2013. The project was dubbed “The Green Build” for later becoming the first airport terminal in the world to have a nationally recognized energy and environmental design certification — earned in part for its baggage handling system that achieved 30% energy savings. 

Road quality

This month, the City of San Diego is expected to publish a new report on its road conditions — the first update since 2015. The report will include the city’s pavement condition index analyses and a pavement management plan, according to a spokesperson.

The new data will allow officials to assess which city roads need to be fixed and how to prioritize them. City transportation officials anticipate that ratings will be lower than before, likely entering the “poor” rating on average. 

The 2015 assessment shows that San Diego roads had an average score of 70, which barely made a “good” standing score.

The San Diego County Grand Jury has already deemed the city to have “deplorable” road conditions and not enough funding for upgrades. It called for the city to establish a new law that would carve out money from its annual budget to keep up with repairs, though a council committee rejected the recommendation, saying officials need flexibility in spending to meet other needs. 

The jury issued six other recommendations, including improving usability of the city’s street data webpage and developing a rolling five-year pavement plan to identify roads for resurfacing – all of which the city agreed with. Officials have started to implement some of the recommendations.

Six percent of city roads are in poor condition, according to the most recently available data. San Diego continues to face a growing gap in overall infrastructure funding, projected to be more than $5 billion over the next five years.