| State Route 125 | ||||
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| Route information | ||||
| Defined by S&HC § 425 | ||||
| Maintained by Caltrans | ||||
| Length: | 12.715 mi[1] (20.463 km) SR 125's length does not include the South Bay Expressway, which was opened in late 2007 from SR 54 south to SR 905. |
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| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: | SR 905 in Otay Mesa | |||
| SR 54 near Chula Vista I-8 near El Cajon |
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| North end: | SR 52 in Santee | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State highways in California(list • pre-1964)
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State Route 125 (SR 125) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that currently runs from State Route 905 in Otay Mesa near the U.S.–Mexico border to State Route 52 in Santee.
The southern portion of Route 125 from Route 905 to Route 54 near Chula Vista is a toll road called the South Bay Expressway. It is California's first road built as a public/private partnership. The toll road is being funded by the private company California Transportation Ventures, Inc. and the following public agencies: the United States Department of Transportation, Caltrans, San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), and the City of Chula Vista.
The toll road's name is quite unusual, as it is built to freeway standards and therefore should be labeled a freeway under both California and federal law. See freeway and expressway for more information on the difference between the two.
Route 125 was originally planned to continue north through East Miramar to Poway to connect with State Route 56 and Select Arterial 680 but Poway successfully blocked that by insisting Caltrans upgrade State Route 67 instead, leaving the northern terminus at State Route 52. There still are proposals to connect it to Scripps Poway Parkway, or to take it all the way up to Riverside parallel to Interstate 15, creating a third full north/south freeway for San Diego. It is currently unlikely that will ever happen though.
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This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System[2] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System.[3] However, it is only a scenic highway from SR 94 to I-8 as designated by Caltrans.[4]
SR 125 begins as the South Bay Expressway toll road at an interchange with SR 905 as the latter turns south towards the Mexican border. The route heads north, encountering its first toll plaza just before entering the city of Chula Vista. The freeway cuts through the Eastlake neighborhood of Chula Vista before leaving the city and passing through Sweetwater Regional Park near Sweetwater Reservoir. SR 125 intersects with SR 54, where the tolled portion ends, before turning north again through the unincorporated area of La Presa. The freeway briefly enters Lemon Grove before intersecting with SR 94 and entering La Mesa.[5]
SR 125 interchanges with I-8 before continuing north through the city of El Cajon and passing near Grossmont College. The freeway continues into Santee where the route terminates at the SR 52 interchange. Traffic can continue onto SR 52 or onto Mission Gorge Road at the terminus.
In the early 1990s, only the section south of Interstate 8 and north of State Route 94 was completed; confusingly, it was signed as State Route 94, even though it met with both westbound and eastbound Route 94 at its southern terminus. The Route 125 signs later replaced the Route 94 signs, although at Interstate 8 a "TO" referring to Route 94 is still carried on the signs for Route 125 South.
The northernmost portion of the current Route 125 was built in stages. For a time, its northern terminus was at the current exits for Fletcher Parkway, then later at Navajo Road, although passage through the construction zone to Grossmont College Drive was possible via Fanita Drive, the street which was replaced by the freeway construction (which remained open throughout its conversion to a freeway). The northernmost portion (north of Grossmont College Drive) was completed to State Route 52 and Mission Gorge Road while the portion between Navajo Road and Grossmont College Drive was still under construction. This section was completed in 2005, although some upgrade work was done in 2010 at the interchange with State Route 52 and Mission Gorge Road, adding ramps for the expansion of Route 52 to the east.
In the early 2000s, further construction resulted in the third section of Route 125, connecting southward from State Route 94 to State Route 54. This allowed southbound traffic on Route 125 to continue to westbound State Route 54, while eastbound State Route 54 continues northbound on Route 125. A portion of this facility was a four-lane surface expressway, later improved to a freeway as part of the South Bay Expressway construction.
The fourth section, the South Bay Expressway toll road, opened on November 19, 2007,[6] extending Route 125 southward from State Route 54 to Otay Mesa. This toll road was one of four privately financed toll highway projects, including the 91 Express Toll Lanes, allowed under a state law that was passed in 1989. This portion of the freeway had been planned since 1959, but due to lack of funds was not going to be built for many years. Interestingly, the tolled portion was not planned to connect with State Route 54. In order to ensure continuity, funds from a local transportation sales tax were used to finance the remaining segment, including the interchange with Route 54.[7] The transition from the privately financed toll road to the publicly financed segment can be observed by the change in the pavement as the toll road is paved in asphalt, while the connection is paved in concrete.[8] Toll roads that revert to public ownership are typically paved in asphalt, as it costs less and its poor durability does not concern the road's temporary owners.[9] There are no exits on this short connection, however, so it is signed as being a toll facility. The toll road is equipped with a coin collecting electronic toll collection equipment, the electronic equipment being the FasTrak RFID ststem used elsewhere in California. Tolls are collected at all northbound onramps and southbound offramps. A mainline toll plaza is located at the southern end of the facility just north of State Route 905. The toll road will be extended further south a short distance when the Route 905 freeway is constructed. A new freeway-to-freeway interchange will connect Route 125 with Route 905 as well as State Route 11, a new toll road that will connect to a new border crossing east of Otay Mesa.[10]
On March 22, 2010, the toll road's operator filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing traffic counts running at less than 40% of initial estimates due to the economic downturn.[11] At the time of the filing, the expressway had $510 million of loans outstanding, of which $170 million was owed to the U.S. Department of Transportation. In addition, there was over $600 million of unresolved litigation with the construction contractors. EBITDA for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 was approximately $3 million on revenues of $21 million.[12] On 29 July 2011, SANDAG agreed to purchase the lease of the freeway from toll road operator, South Bay Expressway LLC.[13]
The entire route is in San Diego County.
| Location | Postmile [1][14][15] |
Exit [16] |
Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego | 1 | SR 905 (Otay Mesa Road) | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| Otay Mesa toll plaza | |||||
| Chula Vista | 5 | Birch Road | |||
| 6 | Olympic Parkway | ||||
| 7 | Otay Lakes Road | ||||
| 8 | East H Street | ||||
| 9 | Mt. Miguel Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |||
| North end of toll road | |||||
| 9.59 | 11 | SR 54 west (South Bay Freeway) | |||
| 9.90 | 12 | Jamacha Boulevard, Paradise Valley Road (CR S17) | |||
| 10.62 | 13 | Jamacha Road | |||
| Lemon Grove | 12.97 | 15 | SR 94 (Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway) | Southbound exit to SR 94 east is via exit 17A | |
| 13.50 | 17A | Spring Street – La Mesa | Northbound exit is via exit 15 | ||
| La Mesa | 14.74 | 17A | Lemon Avenue | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| R15.09 | 17B | Grossmont Boulevard | |||
| R15.41 | 18A | I-8 | |||
| 18.66 | 18B | Fletcher Parkway | |||
| El Cajon | 19.53 | 20A | Navajo Road | ||
| 20.39 | 20B | Grossmont College Drive | |||
| Santee | 22.17 | 21 | SR 52 – Santee, San Diego | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 22.30 | Mission Gorge Road | At-grade intersection | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus • Closed/Former • Incomplete access • Unopened |
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