about destruction of "farmland, marshland, and willow scrubland", the habitat of the endangered least Bell's vireo. The San Diego City Council voted against such widening of Carmel Valley Road on April 12, citing the environmental concerns. Caltrans rejected other routes, and insisted on ending the freeway at I-5 and Carmel Valley Road. The council reversed its decision on May 8; after the public gave several opinions on the matter, Caltrans agreed to set aside for environmental mitigation, and $2 million (about $ in dollars) was to be set aside for the purchase of land for a park near the San Dieguito River. In June 1990, the Del Mar Terrace Conservancy and the Carmel Valley Coalition sued the San Diego City Council to require them to move the western terminus of SR 56 closer to Sorrento Valley. On August 1, the City of San Diego received a petition in which more than 45,000 people requested that the City Council overturn their decision or refer it to a public referendum. The City Council backed down and rescinded the appropriate zoning changes on August 7, in efforts to keep the city from having to run a special election. They also approved the plans for the eastern portion between Black Mountain Road and I-15. Meanwhile, the Carmel Valley Coalition sued the city as well. The California Coastal Commission approved the construction on September 13, and several local residents representing both sides of the debate attended the meeting in Marina del Rey. Construction on the predecessor of SR 56 began on November 16, 1987, the Newland-California Company paying for the work as a local developer. Around 1990, the North City Parkway was completed as a two-lane road between Rancho Peñasquitos Boulevard (then Peñasquitos Boulevard) and I-15, along the proposed route of SR 56. The first official segment of the freeway from Black Mountain Road to I-15 was constructed next, beginning on July 25, 1991 by Daley Corporation and W.R. Connelly Inc. This was scheduled to open in May 1993, at a cost of $13 million (about $ in dollars). Opposition to the western segment (from I-5 to Carmel Valley Road) persisted. By 1991, the Del Mar Terrace Conservancy filed an appeal with the 4th District Court of Appeals after losing the lawsuit to the city of San Diego and Caltrans. The Sierra Club had also sued the California Coastal Commission. On July 16, 1992, the