DEL MAR, Calif. — Officials and residents of the San Diego County communities of Del Mar and Solana Beach continue to object to plans to relocate the Surf Line rail route along the Pacific Coast in their communities, a $4 billion proposal that would involve tunneling under the communities to move the tracks off the eroding Del Mar bluffs.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the San Diego Association of Governments, parent of the transit agency that owns the rail line in San Diego County, received some 2,100 pages of public comments in response to its Notice of Preparation. That document, which precedes development of an environmental impact report for the project, decreased the potential routes under consideration from 11 to three [see “Planning agency narrows potential routes …,” Trains News Wire, June 5, 2024]. SANDAG has since said it could still consider other routes.
One alternative, which involves running the tunnel beneath the Del Mar fairgrounds, is opposed in Solana Beach because it is the only one of the three alternatives that would extend the tunneling as far north as that community. It is also strongly opposed by the organization that runs the fairgrounds, the 22nd District Agricultural Association. That group said in the recent commenting period that Alternative A, the route under the fairgrounds, “fails to meet key objectives of the project and would case a great deal of harm to the 22nd DAA and to the entire region during its years-long disruptive construction and subsequent operations.” Early plans call for cut-and-cover tunneling through the fairgrounds area; a fairgrounds representative previously said the route is the area where the San Diego County Fair stages its carnival and midway [see “Del Mar Fairgrounds voices opposition …,” News Wire, June 24, 2024].
However, a survey of Del Mar residents has previously indicated they preferred the fairgrounds alignment, and the Del Mar City Council has supported its consideration, although the council has not endorsed any route. Del Mar residents essentially oppose any tunneling under the community, although some have long supported moving the line off the coast.
The City of Del Mar submitted 10 pages of comments on the SANDAG plans, the Union-Tribune reports, calling for any draft environmental report to address noise, air pollution, and other impacts on homes and businesses.
How about a few plans to run the new tracks at ground level through these communities with “eminent domain” condemning all buildings in a 500 foot swathe for new right-of-way. Then tunneling might be considered more favorably.
In total contrast, CSX worked with the government of the District of Columbia, and with neighborhood groups, and with individual residents, to successfully rebuild Virginia Avenue tunnels. As covered in the pages of TRAINS MAGAZINE, this project was extremely impactful to the low-income community and its people, but it got done.
Another corollary is Boston’s I-93 Big Dig. The project was a total pain in the bum for years, but it got finished. Earlier this year I walked to South Station on a route directly above I-93. If I hadn’t known that I-93 was literally under my feet, I’d not have picked up on that.
California NIMBYs, we’re tired of your whining. Get your act together. If you can’t abide by some dirt being moved and some concrete being poured, then give up your homes and your offices and your shopping malls and your churches and your roads. Go live in the woods in a tent.