SAN DIEGO — The regional planning agency for San Diego County has accepted a $300 million state grant, allowing it to move ahead on plans to build an inland tunnel to replace the current Surf Line rail route along the Del Mar Bluffs.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports the project would also include double tracking the route between the San Dieguito Lagoon and Sorrento Valley. The funds, for the San Diego Association of Governments to pay for preliminary engineering and environmental work necessary to advance the project, and to begin final design, were included in the state budget passed this summer [see “California to provide $300 million …,” Trains News Wire, July 5, 2022].
The tunnel project has been estimated to cost $2.5 billion to $4 billion. It would move the rail line off its longtime route on the Bluffs, which are the focus of ongoing projects to slow erosion [see “Stabilization plan to protect rail line …,” News Wire, June 9, 2022] as well as an ongoing battle with the City of Del Mar and nearby residents over safety fencing and beach access.
But some inland residents are concerned about the relocation, fearing the possibility of vibration from trains passing under their homes, locations of ventilation shafts, and other issues.
Work on a final design could begin in 2026, with construction starting in 2028 and complete in 2035, according to Danny Veeh, a senior planner at SANDAG.
Give the residents a choice: either we tunnel underneath the ground and get the line away from the bluffs or we stop the erosion of the bluffs, erect fencing along the right-of-way and restrict access to the beaches. Which do you want and which do you want to pay for?
Let’s see if this is actually accomplished in our lifetimes
BS
“But some inland residents are concerned about the relocation, fearing the possibility of vibration from trains passing under their homes, locations of ventilation shafts, and other issues.”
A tunnel would be more than 100 feet below the city. It won’t be train vibration they feel, it will be the actual tunneling work itself.