It’s not the holiday season in San Diego without seeing lights around town. Sometimes, you might even see them on freeway bridges. But when did they get there?
The El Cajon Boulevard and Adams Avenue Business Associations started bringing holiday joy to drivers passing through neighborhoods like North Park and Normal Heights 34 years ago.
“Back in those days, everything was done grassroots. So our board members used to have bulb replacement parties where they would all get together and put the bulbs in the strings," said Tootie Thomas, the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association Executive Director.
A total of nine bridges are now lit in the Mid-City area. Starting from Adams Avenue until Landis Street on Interstate 805. They also expanded three years ago to include bridges on Interstate 15.
So how much does it cost to fund this yearly project?
“Every year, we spend about anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000 on this," Thomas said.
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Money comes from donations, and other Business Improvement Districts, like the City Heights Business Association.
The associations hired a contractor to get the lights up. It takes anywhere from a couple of days to a week for it all to be done, and if it all goes to plan, things are lit right before Thanksgiving.
"We find that this is something that just warms residents' hearts, visitors' hearts. One of the stories that I heard from people talking about this was, every time this woman drove back into town during the holidays to spend it with her family, she knew she was home and it was the holidays when she saw those lights and that's cool," Thomas said.
...she knew she was home when it was the holidays when she saw those lights, and that's cool
Tootie Thomas, the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association Executive Director
There are a couple more bridges lit up in the South Bay on I-805 in National City and Chula Vista.
According to CALTRANS traffic counts, the lighting display is observed each season by 2 million freeway users and another 1.3 million that cross bridges on surface streets.
