A groundbreaking ceremony is set to be held Wednesday on a $65 million project to bring transit stations along state Route 15 that will eventually serve the Metropolitan Transit System`s Rapid bus lines in dedicated lanes within the freeway`s existing median. The Mid-City Centerline Project will build San Diego’s first ever freeway-level transit stations at the University Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard junctions along the freeway. Once the stations are complete, Rapid transit services will run in northbound and southbound transit-only lanes.

The San Diego Association of Governments, which is coordinating the project with MTS and Caltrans, the dedicated lanes will provide faster and more reliable travel through the SR-15/Interstate 15 corridor, one of the region’s key transportation corridors. The 15 freeway is a state route south of Interstate 8 and an interstate from north of I-8. SANDAG reports funding for the project came from the Federal Transit Administration and from TransNet, the regional half-cent sales tax for transportation.