SANDAG’s 2050 Transportation Plan Drawing More and More Heat

When the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) passed its 2050 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy, it declared a major victory over Greenhouse Gas emissions.  The plan was the first plan written to adhere to a 2008 law mandating that long-term transportation plans show a commitment to reducing air pollutants linked to global warming and a slew of public health problems.

However, it didn't take long for the plan to be challenged in court be environmental groups for not going far enough, a legal battle that could have implications throughout the state.  A local environmental group known as the Cleveland National Forest Foundation launched a lawsuit against the plan that most observers dismissed as having little chance of winning.  Then, the CNFF was joined by other environmental groups, even the California Sierra Club.  Then, the Attorney General, Kamala Harris, weighed in.  Now, the SANDAG plan, once considered an important test of environmental planning, is also opposed by the Environmental Caucus of the California Democratic Party.  The Caucus passed a resolution condemning the SANDAG plan at their February meeting.

“As the first regional government in California to develop a land use plan under the State’s strict new climate change laws, SANDAG has a responsibility to set a path toward a sustainable future,” said Tony L. Hale, Chair of the Environmental Caucus of the California Democratic Party. “Instead, SANDAG’s plan calls for more of the same: sprawl, air pollution, and an increase in dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.”

A full copy of the Caucus' resolution can be found at the end of this article.

The major issue in the lawsuit is is that while the SANDAG plan does outline a major growth in the region's transit network, most of the transit planning is in the last years of the project.  The early years call for a rapid increase in the area's highway network through a new high occupancy/toll lane system (HOT Lanes).  SANDAG spokespeople claim that because the lanes can be used free by transit, they should be considered transit projects.   Not everyone agrees.

Meanwhile, public comment on the plan for the six-county Southern California Association of Government's 2050 Regional Transportation Plan, ended last week.  Critics of the draft plan note that it has some of the same issues as the SANDAG plan, notably that funding for active transportation projects are funded towards the end of the plan, not the beginning.  A vote on a final plan is expected in March.