The Lake Hodges Bridge is a component of

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

that spans

Lake Hodges Lake Hodges is a lake and reservoir located within the city limits of San Diego, California. It is about north of Downtown San Diego, just north of the Rancho Bernardo community, and just south of the city's border with Escondido. When full, th ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, just south of the city limits of

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

. Lake Hodges Bridge is an important part of San Diego's north–south transportation axis. The original bridge was constructed in 1919. The bridge later became integrated into the newly constructed

U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road ...

. As part of a roadway realignment and improvement project, the original structure was demolished in 1968, and replaced with a new structure in 1969. That bridge was subsequently replaced in 1981, when I-15 was built to supersede US 395. As a traffic bottleneck, the bridge is vulnerable to

traffic jam Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...

s in

North San Diego County North County is a region in the northern area of San Diego County, California. It is the second-most populous region in the county (after San Diego), with an estimated population of 869,322. North County is well known for its affluence, especial ...

. The nature of the lake and the surrounding land makes the bridge the singular access into the city of San Diego from inland North County. The only two major ways around the bridge are the Del Dios Highway, a two-lane winding road to

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

via

Del Mar Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "from the sea". It may refer to: Places in the United States * Del Mar, California * Del Mar High School, located in San Jose, California * Del Mar racetrack, located in Del Mar, California * Del Mar Fai ...

, and the trip through

Ramona ''Ramona'' is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination and ...

into Escondido. Although paved access roads through the San Pasqual Valley to the east of Lake Hodges do exist, they are lightly traveled and are not designed to handle heavy traffic. The bridge is thus effectively the only crossing point for drivers on the route. The current bridge is a

concrete viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

. It was widened and replaced in 2006-2009 as part of a project to add managed lanes in the I-15 corridor. Depending on the amount of rainfall in San Diego County, Lake Hodges's water level fluctuates significantly. As such, Lake Hodges Bridge may cross over water or a dry lake bed from time to time. Due to the vast amount of vegetation that springs up when water levels are low, the area below the bridge has been jokingly referred to as "Hodges National Forest".

Lake Hodges Pedestrian Bridge

The Lake Hodges Pedestrian Bridge, officially named the David Kreitzer Lake Hodges Bicycle Pedestrian Bridge after a retired planning commissioner, is a

pedestrian bridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

spanning Lake Hodges immediately south of the

span. The bridge was opened to the public on May 15, 2009. The bridge is of a stress-ribbon design, the longest of its type in the world, and only the sixth to have been built in the US. From end to end the bridge measures . This design was chosen for having the least impact on environmentally sensitive habitats in the construction area.

References

Bridges in San Diego Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Road bridges in California Interstate 15 Bridges completed in 1919 Bridges completed in 1969 Bridges completed in 1981 Bridges completed in 2009 Buildings and structures demolished in 1968 Concrete bridges in California Stressed ribbon bridges in the United States 1919 establishments in California {{California-bridge-struct-stub

Lake Hodges Pedestrian Bridge

See also

References