Image of the Week – 2/3/2017
Winter Guide to Traversing Mission Valley Roadways
San Diego’s Mission Valley can be quite a challenge during the winter. Most of the crossings of the San Diego River are low and not bridged. As a result, when it rains these crossings can be closed rather quickly. This greatly affects the ability to transect the valley along these roadways. The freeways, I-5, State 163, I-805, and I-15 are built with bridges and high enough to not flood. This is a guide to what is normally closed during storms.
From west to east:
Pacific Highway – Bridge – not closed
Morena Blvd – Bridge – not closed
Fashion Valley Road – closed more often than not during storms. This crossing has been rebuilt several times as well.
Avenida Del Rio – closed regularly during storms.
Mission Center Road – low crossing built a little higher than average. Still floods during major storms but is strong enough to avoid being damaged as a result.
Camino Del Este – Still low but built strong. Closes during major storms.
Qualcomm Way – Closes during very large storms. Built a little higher to help keep it open during major storms.
Ward Road – very low crossing and subject to closure during storms.
San Diego Mission Road – low crossing and subject to closure.
Friars Road (east) – Bridge – does not close.
Now, in the event all of these low-level crossings are closed, it is probably best to simply avoid Mission Valley in general. If you have to be there, I would suggest taking the 163 or 15 to cross the San Diego River. It may be a convoluted and circuitous route to use, but it is your only choice. Mission Valley circulation wasn’t designed with the river to flood in mind, unfortunately. Some developments, such as Fashion Valley Mall, was at least partly designed for flooding. The southern parking structure was built with the lower floor to be flooded and still allow for use of the rest of the structure. Even MTS built the San Diego Trolley Green Line with the floods in mind. Most of it is elevated through the valley.
Small reorganization and updates
I’ve been working on the site a bit lately, and have been making some modifications. No pages are going away, so don’t think that. New pages, however, are coming and older pages are being moved. I am developing a new page (or series depending on where it goes) on southern California’s park lands. In particular, the national, state, and county level parks that help to preserve what this region was before settlement of the lands. This new page (or series) will help to locate these parks and give some information about them.
Due to this new page, I have also decided to consolidate some of the pages on this site into a new “Recreation” page. This will include the kayaking, bicycling, motorcycling, hiking, as well as the new parks page. In time, these pages may expand beyond their current scope to cover more areas. For now, they will remain mostly the same. The menu has already been updated to reflect these new changes, so keep that in mind while you explore this site.
With these particular subjects in mind (kayaking, bicycling, motorcycling, hiking, and parks), let us know if you would like to see any new areas covered by those pages or are looking for more detailed information about what is already covered.
Future Website Ideas
So far, it looks like there is interest in something for US 395 and US 466. As it stands, US 395 at least has something for San Diego County (still in progress) and the current signed route as far as its intersection with State 14 near Inyokern. US 466 is still pending. I am interested in working on a tour, of sorts, of the highway from Bakersfield to Barstow. What I lack to create the tour is photos. I have traversed the route many times but need photos of the route in Barstow, Hinkley, Kramer Junction, Boron, Tehachapi, Keene, Edison, and approaches to Bakersfield. I’m still looking for additional ideas for the site, if there are any. The pages I have talked about thus far will take a while to produce. There is still some research to be done on those roadways.
We want to hear from you!
Hello,
First, I want to thank all those that donated to the website to help with the cost of keeping the site online. I normally don’t ask for financial help, but this time it was very helpful. So, thank you all again for your support to help keep this site alive. Now, with that in mind, there is another question I have. This site covers quite a bit of subjects. They are covered as I have information about them and am interested in them. I only want to put up the best information available on this site, to ensure that the proper information is being disseminated. With this in mind, here is the question:
What additional information would you like to see on this site? Southern California has much to be covered, and while other sites may offer much better information about certain subjects, I am willing and able to expand the site to offer another take on those subjects (or an expansion of existing subjects covered). Please let us know via our Website Feedback, e-mail, or comments on this site.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Michael Ballard
Site Administrator / Author