Transportation Public Outreach

Interstate 805 (I-805) is one of Southern Californias main backbones of mobility in the urban core of the San Diego region. It is a key north-south corridor that traverses the most heavily populated portion of the region and connects the greater highway system to the US/Mexico border. In May 2010, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and Caltrans hired Southwest Strategies to develop and implement a community outreach program for the proposed I-805 South Project. The project will relieve traffic congestion and offer new transportation choices along an 11-mile freeway segment stretching from East Palomar Street in Chula Vista to the I-805/SR 15 interchange in the City of San Diego. The project will improve capacity on I-805, help accommodate the projected population and employment growth in the region and give motorists more options for reaching their destinations.

Southwest Strategies developed a public outreach program designed to inform residents, businesses, community group leaders and elected officials about the project leading up to and beyond the environmental phase. As a result, the team strengthened and established preliminary relationships with key stakeholders and residents along the project corridor, laying the foundation for ongoing community education and communication throughout the environmental and construction phases. As an integrated communications project, the outreach effort for the I-805 South Project runs parallel to independent yet collaborative programs spearheaded by Caltrans and SANDAG.

Communications tools developed as part of the public outreach program include: a salient message platform; new logo and tagline; quarterly newsletter; project brochure; social media, Web and eblast content; and presentation materials such as fact sheets, PowerPoints, programs and display boards. As roughly 40 percent of the project area's residents are Spanish speakers, select project materials, such as the newsletter and brochure, were developed in Spanish as well. Southwest Strategies also coordinated more than a dozen public meetings to provide members of the community with the opportunity to learn more about the project and comment on the draft EIR.