Like it or not, dozens of homes could be demolished to make room for the Interstate 5 expansion project.
Our media partner North County Times first reported on a Caltrans list of properties that would be removed for the expansion.
Carlsbad resident Heath Walker recently spent $30,000 on his backyard. “There's definitely been a substantial investment over the last five years,” Walker said.
Walker, 34 said his home could be demolished.
“Your house is your home and for someone to send a letter in the mail, be able to take your house, it's a situation you don't want to have to deal with.”
According to a Caltrans list, more than 40 homes could be removed. Another 230 could lose 'part of their land' along the 27-mile widening, stretching from La Jolla to Oceanside from eight lanes to as many as 14.
CalTrans would be required to pay owners fair market value for their loss.
“We bought at the high end so now the house is worth $100,000 less. We could lose our house and be $100,000 in debt,” Walker said.
If the project is approved, construction wouldn't begin for several years.
Walker said he and his family would move within Carlsbad.
Despite his family’s potential sacrifice, he agrees that I-5 is too congested. “I am all for evolving the freeway and making it is more hospitable for the families and for the tourists coming in,” he said.
Local
CalTrans is holding a final public meeting on the expansion project this Thursday, Sept. 9 at Oceanside High School.
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