SANDAG says a preferred alternative route to take tracks off crumbling bluffs could be announced this spring
Del Mar residents continue to stress their strong opposition to any plan that takes trains off the crumbling coastal bluffs and onto a new route through a tunnel underneath their homes.
They voiced their concerns again Monday after San Diego Association of Governments officials presented the latest developments for the decades-old proposal in an update to the Del Mar City Council. Many possible routes are being considered and a preferred route could be announced this spring, SANDAG officials said.
“This project will happen,” said interim SANDAG CEO Coleen Clementson. “We have a mandate from the state and federal governments to move the tracks off the bluff.”
The original railroad was built in 1881. Initially, the route went through the middle of Del Mar at what is now Stratford Court. In 1910, the tracks were moved to the cliff-like coastal bluffs, where the grade was less steep and there were fewer street crossings.
Since then, the bluffs have eroded at an average rate of 6 inches annually, taking the tracks ever closer to the edge.
Del Mar is San Diego County’s smallest city with a shrinking population of less than 4,000 residents. SANDAG and other agencies have said rerouting the tracks inland from the bluffs is essential for safety. It also would allow the construction of a second set of tracks, which would improve efficiency and allow faster service, and could free up the coastal railroad property for recreational uses.
Trains are unable to climb steep slopes, so rerouting the 1.7 miles of track inland requires drilling a mostly horizontal tunnel as much as 300 feet beneath parts of Del Mar.
Residents say taking the tunnel beneath their homes presents a number of hazards, from noise and vibrations to sinkholes and toxic chemicals. Another concern is the tunnel’s possible effects on property values, which Zillow.com says average $3.5 million for a home in Del Mar.
Other objections include the enormous cost of boring a tunnel, estimated to be at least $4 billion, and the relatively few riders who now use the train.
Ridership dropped by 90 percent with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when trains were canceled and people worked from home. While passengers have slowly returned, ridership remains below 2019 levels.
Many Del Mar residents are pushing for a route that would avoid going beneath homes by taking trains across the state fairgrounds and along Interstate 5. Any route that includes the fairgrounds probably would need a longer approach and include part of Solana Beach, Del Mar’s northern neighbor.
SANDAG officials have said taking the route along I-5 would be more expensive to build and would add time to train schedules, but it’s among the many routes still being considered.
“The city is too small to lose houses to eminent domain at the tunnel openings,” said resident Steve Reich in a Feb. 4 letter to the City Council.
“Del Mar residents should not have to put up with the vibration and dangers of tunneling under their homes,” Reich said. “They should not have to worry about vibrations, toxic fumes and cargo, and potential tunnel failures.”
About 20 people spoke to the council on the issue Monday, although the SANDAG presentation was informational only and no decision was required. Some of the council members thanked SANDAG for its work over the past year to publicize the project and work with residents.
Del Mar Councilmember Dan Quirk, an exception on the council, has often said the tunnel would be a poor investment of tax dollars. His fellow council members voted last year to censure him for not always making clear that his opinions are his own and don’t represent the city’s position.
The amount of cargo moved by rail is insignificant compared to San Diego’s overall production, Quirk said. He also said it is misleading for SANDAG and other agencies to claim that the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) rail corridor is the second-busiest Amtrak route in the nation.
Other similar passenger services, such as the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System’s trolley system, where the Blue Line serves San Diego, Chula Vista and National City, or the BART system serving multiple cities in the San Francisco Bay Area, carry far more riders, Quirk said.
“To me this looks like a dead-on-arrival project,” he said. “Why does SANDAG think that the federal government is going to fund this?”
Improved rail service is an important part of the region’s long-term transportation plans, transit officials have said. Trains are a valuable alternative to clogged freeways and can be less polluting and more energy efficient.
“There is an unprecedented amount of federal investment in intercity rail,” said SANDAG Rail Planning Manager Danny Veeh. “If we don’t go for it, it’s going to go to other corridors. We have a very competitive corridor here, and it’s worth the investment.”
Also, the federal Defense Department requires the railroad to be maintained as part of its Strategic Rail Corridor Network that connects military bases across the country.
SANDAG received a $300 million grant from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program last year to complete the preliminary engineering and environmental documents for the project. Construction could be completed as soon as 2035.