 City officials expressed a desire to have SR 78 included in the Interstate Highway System in 1985 , but this was determined unlikely to succeed by state senator William Craven . In September , the state government agreed to pay $ 7 @.@ 5 million ( about $ 23 million in 2015 dollars ) for the widening between Oceanside and Escondido , but the county and the five cities the route ran through would have to pay for the rest of the cost . The San Diego County Board of Supervisors endorsed the project that month , in order to have the best chance at getting federal funding . A spike in accidents during that year led to Representative Ron Packard proposing a way to split the costs between the governments ; there were 387 accidents from January to August 1985 , a sharp increase from 234 in 1984 . In recognition for his work obtaining funding , SR 78 between Oceanside and Escondido was named the Ronald Packard Parkway in 2000 . 
