SAN DIEGO — The effort to determine a new rail route through Del Mar, Calif., will repeat a step — and has a new twist, as well.
At a Friday, Feb. 28, meeting, the San Diego Association of Governments restarted the run-up to developing an environmental assessment of the project, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. A SANDAG meeting chose a new set of four possible routes to move rail service off the Surf Line route along the Del Mar Bluffs, meaning the agency will once again issue a notice of preparation to invite comments on the plans. It did that last year with a set of three possible options [see “Planning agency narrows potential routes …,” Trains News Wire ] — all of which ran into opposition from homeowners or other interested parties in Del Mar and neighboring Solana Beach.
But for the first time, SANDAG was also told that even if a new rail line was built, the existing route along the bluffs — which has required extensive reinforcement to address erosion — will need to be kept in place because of long-term agreements with the Defense Department, Amtrak, and freight operator BNSF. “That line would have to continue to be maintained as an active rail line,” North County Transit District Executive Director Shawn Donaghy said. NCTD owns the line in San Diego County.
Based on the opposition to the three routes previously presented, SANDAG conducted a new study, released last month, that looked at 16 possible routes, including an extensive, and expensive, realignment along the Interstate 5 right-of-way [see “New study multiplies possible routes …,” News Wire, Feb. 10, 2025]. Friday’s meeting narrowed the possibilities to three routes involving potential tunnels under Del Mar, and another that would double-track the existing route along the Bluffs. The Union-Tribune reports the California Coastal Commission has already gone on record with its opposition to the double-tracking option because of the stabilization work, seawalls, and retaining walls it would require.
Publication of a new notice of preparation for the revised set of potential routes will trigger another 45-day comment period. The comment period for the earlier notice drew more than 1,500 responses [see “Comment period on Del Mar tunnel project …,” News Wire, Dec. 16, 2024].
