Daily Business Report-Dec. 27, 2013
Cabrillo Bridge to be Closed to Cars Until April
The Laurel Street overpass to Balboa Park will be closed to vehicular traffic for four months during a $38 million rehabilitation and retrofit project to Cabrillo Bridge that starts on New Year’s Day, according to Caltrans.
Caltrans officials said that pedestrian and bicycle access will be uninterrupted during bridge construction. The portion of state Route 163 under the bridge will be minimally impacted.
Work is being done to enhance the structural integrity of the bridge and to improve safety bringing the bridge up current earthquake standards. Bridge accessibility will also be improved while the historically significant structure is preserved.
Vehicle traffic on the bridge is being rerouted from January to April to allow work crews access to the bridge.
Caltrans plans to preserve access across the bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists via a narrow walkway.
The project is expected to be done before the Balboa Park 2015 Centennial celebration. — City News Service
Some San Diego Airport Travelers Skip
Security Line With Specially Marked Passes
Some travelers at San Diego International Airport got an extra holiday gift this year: A special “TSA-Pre” marking on their boarding pass allowed them to skip the regular security line, KPBS reports.
Lindbergh Field was one of 60 airports to recently receive TSA-Pre, an expedited airport security screening program. Selected travelers get to go through a special security line where they can leave on their shoes, jackets and belts and can keep their laptops and liquids in their carry-on luggage, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Fliers can pay $85 to apply for the program, but others are chosen without paying, or even asking for it, because they meet “TSA-mandated criteria.”
The TSA won’t say what those criteria are. But KPBS used its Public Insight Network to ask San Diegans if they’d received TSA-Pre during recent travels.
Respondents to the KPBS questionnaire who said they received the pre-screened security status without asking are all fairly frequent travelers, but aren’t necessarily members of frequent flier programs.
All of the respondents who got TSA-Pre are also middle-aged and white, although the KPBS questionnaire was not a scientific sampling.
Artist Donates Latin-American-Themed
Mural to Mountain Peak Charter School
VISTA — The Vista Learning Academy of Mountain Peak Charter School has a new, Latin American and Spanish-themed mural created by San Diego artist Tammy Gillespie. The mural features a globe surrounded by images from Spanish-speaking countries encircled by images of decorative Talavera tiles. It is intended to help create a school environment suited to the English-Spanish bilingual program. “It’s beautiful,” said Mallory Trapnell, who has served as principal of the Academy for two years. “Both our parents and students are super excited about it!”
Images incorporated into the mural include Peru’s Machu Picchu and Nazca lines, Mexico’s Chichen Itza (Mayan pyramid) and Spain’s La Mancha windmills, made famous by the novel “Don Quixote.” See the artwork at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/91766163@N05/.
Gillespie volunteered her time and materials for the mural. She used acrylics and tempera paints. She worked on weekends, when school was not in session, for eight weeks, for a total of 60 hours. Students had the experience of returning to class on Mondays during that period to see what new elements of the mural Gillespie had created the two days before.
Christmas Tree Recycling
The city of San Diego Environmental Services Department will be hosting the 40th annual Christmas Tree Recycling Program through Jan. 23, 2014. This year’s program will provide 16 drop-off locations available to residents only. For curbside collection (for residents with yard waste collection only) customers using their own bins should place trees on the curb for collection on your regular greenery recycling pickup day. Trees over four feet in length should be cut in half.
Click here for drop-off locations…
