Case study: Mission Valley East Extension

Cook & Schmid partners, Rick Cook and Jon Schmid, provided public and community relations for the largest transportation project in San Diego County in recent years — the $496 million, 5.9-mile-long Mission Valley East extension of the San Diego Trolley — from planning in 2000 through construction into 2004.

The project's cost and its perceived impacts on Mission Valley by some residents and businesses created anxiety and even animosity toward the project.  In addition, construction of the project caused considerable inconvenience for San Diego State University students and staff and businesses and residents who lived near the construction zone.  Due to the nature of the project, construction continued around the clock, with noise affecting residents, street closures impacting local businesses, and the construction of tracks displacing some residents.  Construction included a tunnel through the San Diego State University campus, a subway station and a bridge that spanned Highway 8 — an important east-west freeway that constitutes one of the region’s major traffic arteries.

The agency implemented a continuous, multi-faceted public and community relations plan that reached residents, businesses, employers, shoppers, media and others throughout the construction process.

The Mission Valley East Extension Community Relations Campaign built support for the project and helped eliminate public protests that might have delayed the completion of the Trolley extension.  Other achievements included: an increased public approval rating; extensive media coverage, including two major print news stories: one two-page spread with extensive graphics on the Trolley expansion and new station designs, another with details on the I-8 full freeway closure with detour maps.  The agency also secured weekly traffic report coverage on local broadcast and television news resulting in more than 75 news reports (total impressions: approximately 20 million).