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The North Coast Corridor is an infrastructure improvement project in northern San Diego County, California that will upgrade road, rail, pedestrian, and bicycle transportation infrastructure, as well as fund environmental restoration. The project has a $6 billion budget, and after beginning the first phases of construction in late 2016 is planned to be completed over the following 40 years. [1]
The $700 million initial phase of construction began in 2016 with a groundbreaking on November 29 at the San Elijo Lagoon. [1] The projects in this phase are scheduled to be completed by 2021. [1] The state government is contributing $250 million to this project, mostly coming from the fuel tax levied by SB1, known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act. [2]
Two new bridges are to be built on Interstate 5: one across the San Elijo Lagoon in Solana Beach and Encinitas, and one across the Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad. [1] Other road projects include added carpool lanes and sound barriers. [1] The total cost of the highway portion of the first phase was budgeted for $480 million. [3] The highway expansion faces opposition from environmentalists, who argue that "expanding the amount of space we dedicate to cars not only fails to speed up traffic but also accelerates the breakdown of ecosystems that support life on earth." [2]
Two segments of the major passenger rail line following the coast from San Diego north, used by Coaster commuter trains and Pacific Surfliner intercity trains, are to be double tracked. Work began initially on a 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) segment of track between Cardiff-by-the-Sea and San Elijo Lagoon, including replacement of the railroad bridge over the lagoon. [3] The wooden trestle crossing San Elijo Lagoon was demolished in 2018, after 74 years in service, and was replaced by a modern double-track concrete structure. The wooden trestle had been built in 1944, replacing one built in 1880. [4]
Work is ongoing on a similar project at Batiquitos Lagoon, including a bridge replacement and 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) of new double track. [5] These projects, as well as grade crossing work, are budgeted for $102 million. [3]
This railway line was originally known as the Surf Line built in the 1880s by the California Southern Railroad, which became part of the Santa Fe Railroad. It is currently part of the LOSSAN Corridor, which forms the route of the Pacific Surfliner. The upgrades to the North Coast Corridor are being done in conjunction with the extension of the San Diego Trolley's Blue Line to UCSD, which is known as the Mid-Coast Corridor. [6]
$40 million is to be spent on bicycle path and pedestrian improvements, along with local community enhancements. [1]
The San Elijo Lagoon will receive $80 million for restoration efforts, such as dredging and filling to bring sediment to natural levels, as well as additional conserved area to mitigate the impact of the new road and rail bridges. [1] This work is scheduled to begin in 2017. [1]
The Pacific Surfliner is a 350-mile (560 km) passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. It is known colloquially as "The Trolley". The Trolley's operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. (SDTI), is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). The Trolley began service on July 26, 1981, making it the oldest of the second-generation light rail systems in the United States. The Trolley system serves 62 stations, comprises 65 miles (105 km) of route, three primary lines that operate daily, and one heritage line that operates on a circuit of downtown on select days. In 2019, the Trolley had the fifth highest ridership of light rail systems in the United States, with 23,485,700 annual rides, an average of 84,500 rides per weekday.
The Surf Line is a railroad line that runs from San Diego north to Orange County along California's Pacific Coast. It was so named because much of the line is near the Pacific Ocean, within less than 100 feet (30 m) in some places. The tracks are now owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and the North County Transit District, and hosts Metrolink's Orange County Line and Inland Empire–Orange County Line, the San Diego Coaster, and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner passenger trains. The BNSF Railway operates freight over the line using trackage rights.
The Coast Line is a railroad line between Burbank, California and the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly along the Pacific Coast. It is the shortest rail route between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a 7.04-mile (11.33 km), shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch Trail is being built as part of the Purple Line light rail project.
Sprinter is a diesel multiple unit hybrid rail route operating in the North County area of San Diego County between the cities of Escondido and Oceanside, California, United States. The service uses the pre-existing 22 miles (35 km) Escondido Branch trackage of the San Diego Northern Railroad. Station platforms were constructed for the line's fifteen stations serving the cities of Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, and Oceanside. The line provides service to California State University, San Marcos and Palomar College. Sprinter service operates every 30 minutes and is targeted towards students and commuters.
The North County Transit District is the agency responsible for public transportation in Northern San Diego County, California. The agency manages the COASTER commuter rail service between Oceanside and San Diego, the SPRINTER light rail service between Escondido and Oceanside, the BREEZE transit bus service, LIFT paratransit service, and FLEX on-demand and point-deviation service.
Santa Fe Depot in San Diego, California, is a union station built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to replace the small Victorian-style structure erected in 1887 for the California Southern Railroad Company. The Spanish Colonial Revival style station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a San Diego Historic Landmark. Its architecture, particularly the signature twin domes, is often echoed in the design of modern buildings in Downtown San Diego.
Old Town Transit Center, also known as San Diego–Old Town station or Old Town San Diego station, is an intermodal transportation station located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California. It is served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, the COASTER commuter rail service, and the San Diego Trolley, as well as numerous San Diego Metropolitan Transit System bus lines.
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is a public transit service provider for Central, South, Northeast and Southeast San Diego County. The agency directly operates a large transit system that includes the MTS Bus, San Diego Trolley light rail, and Rapid bus rapid transit services. The MTS also controls the San Diego and Arizona Eastern (SD&AE) freight railway and regulates taxicabs, jitneys, and other private for-hire passenger transportation services.
The Blue Line is a 26.3-mile (42.3 km) light rail line in the San Diego Trolley system, operated by San Diego Trolley, Inc., an operating division of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). It operates between the UTC Transit Center and the San Ysidro Transit Center, the latter of which is at the border with Mexico directly adjacent to the San Ysidro Port of Entry, facilitating easy connections across the border. The line serves La Jolla, Downtown San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, and San Ysidro.
The Orange Line is an 18.0-mile (29.0 km) light rail line in the San Diego Trolley system, operated by San Diego Trolley, Inc. an operating division of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. The route connects Downtown San Diego with the cities of Lemon Grove, La Mesa, and El Cajon. The Orange Line has the lowest ridership of the San Diego Trolley's three regular lines, transporting 10,896,289 riders during FY 2014 according to the MTS.
Los Peñasquitos Marsh Natural Preserve and Lagoon is a coastal marsh in San Diego County, California, United States situated at the northern edge of the City of San Diego, forming the natural border with Del Mar, California. This bar-built estuary, previously called The Soledad Lagoon, divides a colony of the endangered Pinus torreyana on a narrow coastal strip. Three streams empty into the lagoon: Carroll Creek, Carmel Creek, Los Peñasquitos Creek with a total drainage basin area of 95 square miles.
San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve is one of the largest remaining coastal wetlands in San Diego County, California, United States.
Trestles Bridge, more formally known as Railroad Bridge 207.6 or the San Mateo Creek Bridge, is a low railroad viaduct on the coast of Southern California, in northern San Diego County near its border with Orange County. The bridge lies within San Onofre State Beach and gave its nickname to the famed Trestles surfing site at that beach.
Batiquitos Lagoon State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area in San Diego on California’s south coast. It is part of Batiquitos Lagoon, a coastal tidal wetland lying within the city limits of Carlsbad, California and adjacent to Encinitas, California. The SMCA covers 2000 miles. The SMCA protects marine life by limiting the removal of marine wildlife from within its borders.
Baja California Railroad, Inc. (BJRR) is a class III railroad operating in the northwest of Baja California, interchanging with San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad in San Ysidro, California. After rehabilitation efforts are completed on the Desert Line portion of the railroad, an interchange is also planned with the Union Pacific Railroad in Plaster City, California.
The Dumbarton Rail Bridge lies just to the south of the Dumbarton road bridge. Built in 1910, the rail bridge was the first structure to span San Francisco Bay, shortening the rail route between Oakland and San Francisco by 26 miles (42 km). The last freight train traveled over the bridge in 1982, and it has been proposed since 1991 to reactivate passenger train service to relieve traffic on the road bridges, though this would entail a complete replacement of the existing bridge. Part of the western timber trestle approach collapsed in a suspected arson fire in 1998.
The Dumbarton Rail Corridor is a proposed transbay passenger rail line which would reuse the right-of-way that was initially constructed from 1907–1910 as the Dumbarton Cut-off. The Dumbarton Cut-off includes the first structure to span San Francisco Bay, the 1910 Dumbarton Rail Bridge, although the vintage Cut-off bridges would likely be replaced prior to activating new passenger service. Dumbarton Rail Corridor would provide service between Union City in the East Bay and Menlo Park on the Peninsula, with train service continuing to both San Francisco and San José along the existing Caltrain tracks. It has been in the planning stages since 1988, and would be the first above-ground transbay rail line since Key System electric trains stopped running on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge in 1958, and the first new transbay crossing of any kind since the completion of the Transbay Tube in 1974.
Tecolote Road station is a San Diego Trolley station in San Diego, California. The station is located adjacent to the 5 Freeway/Tecolote Road interchange. It was developed as a station for the Mid-Coast Trolley extension project, which is an extension for the Blue Line. The station has 279 parking spaces.