Caltrans is doing more than adding lanes as it widens state Route 76 in North County.
Oceanside will get a stretch of land including a landscaped 1,800-foot horse and pedestrian trail between Melrose Drive and Jefferies Ranch Road. It's land that is not needed for road expansion anytime soon.
Oceanside City Council voted to accept the property on Aug. 20.
Oceanside senior civil engineer Gary Kellison said the crushed granite trail will provide a useful and safe way to travel next to the highway,
“It has a good firm foundation where pretty much any kind of the public’s non-motorized uses, horses, pedestrians, dirt bikes, would have no trouble using," Kellison said, "and it’s wide enough for city maintenance vehicles, to access.”
Caltrans will plant buckwheat, poppies, native sages and live oak trees along the trails beside Route 76.
The trail will be open for use within a year.
Caltrans retains the right to reclaim the land if the expressway needs to be expanded in the future. It’s estimated that the next roadway expansion will not take place before 2050.
