Leucadia rail corridor. Crossing these tracks on foot can result in a $1000 ticket.
Solana Beach underground rail corridor.
The Sunday UT features an Adam Kaye article about the frustration Leucadians feel not being able to take the shortest most logical route to school and businesses by crossing the train tracks (illegally), and instead having to get into our cars and driving 2 miles.
If you don't have a hard copy read the article online: Additional railroad crossings in limbo
The article gives you the impression that the city's desire to build tunnel crossings is the only solution.
Sooner than later we will have double tracking in Leucadia, that will mean 100 trains or more in a 24 period. Obviously pedestrian tunnels will do nothing to help the gridlock and frustration at the Leucadia Blvd/Hwy 101 intersection.
Train collides with vehicle at Leucadia Blvd.
Double tracking will mean more blaring horns and lots and lots of dust. The dust from the trains now is already unacceptable (the NCTD's scorched earth landscaping policies aggravate this problem).
Imagine, Leucadia's 101 coast highway business district finally gets it's streetscape program, pedestrians come out to shop and eat at our sidewalk cafes and what will their experience be? Hearing dozens of loud, obnoxious blaring train horns all day that drown out conversations and make babies cry.
The only real solution for Leucadia is lowering the tracks.
When one speaks of lowering the tracks in Leucadia the Thought Police are quick to chastise you, calling it impossible. But, with strong leadership, determined political and community will we could lobby the Feds and get it done.
It's something to think about this summer as we approach the November elections.
Fantastic post! The only thing missing is political will. We must make it a priority.
ReplyDeleteIt takes more than will. It takes money.
ReplyDeleteJust ask Jerome Stocks. He has been a total dick to anyone who mentions under grounding the tracks. In his book JP is a total whining retard who never listens and he will say that in public with only slightly less crude words, but that is his message.
It is the only obvious solution and this community will throw a all out riot if anyone tries to shove double tracking down our throats without giving us undergrounding.
ReplyDeleteI'm ready to get people together and STOP the trains if they dare try.
UNDERGROUND THE TRAINS!!!!!!!!!
It will be an exciting day when a Santa Fe freight train pulling toxic chemicals slams into a big truck stuck on the Leucadia Blvd intersection and derails.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post JP!
ReplyDeleteIf you ever run for Council, you have my vote!
Any Dickhead that says it can be down should just look Solana Beach and then they should be tar and feathered and put next to Fairy Mary as public art!
I agree all we need is Political Will and the money and construction will follow.
As long as Stocks has a love fest with NCTD nothing will get done.
In the political power structure Stocks in a peon. We can go over his head. The death toll on the tracks is high enough that a good Washington lobbyist can get funding.
ReplyDeleteThe war in Iraq cost $341.4 million per day.
ReplyDeleteI agree that lowering the train tracks is the best solution.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, according to Council's recent budget presentation, and what Jerome Stocks said, we will be spending about $5 million, total, to begin doing an underground pedestrian crossing at Santa Fe.
This is NOT good, as once these underground pedestrian passageways, tunnels, are put in, we will NEVER get the train tracks, themselves, undergrounded. Also, the pedestrian crossings, undergrounded, would attract crime, and flooding in Leucadia. Pumps could fail in a storm.
Jerome Stocks, with the blessings of James Bond and Dan Dalager want to throw some money out for publicity reasons. Nothing will be done, for years in Leucadia, though. We don't have the money, it seems for anything but more consultants and political spin.
Improving the at grade crossings is possible. Meanwhile, let people cross at their own risk, as they continue to do. The railroad, NCTD, has a right of way. The public right of way should supercede that. NCTD doesn't, or shouldn't OWN the land.
People have a right to cross the tracks where it is far less hazardous than at Leucadia Blvd.
As a member of the Encinitas City Council I will do everything possible to drop the railroad grade through Leucadia, to accomodate the community and future rail usage. When elected to Encinitas I will lobby to be the Encinitas representative on the NCTD Board of Directors.
ReplyDeleteNanningaforencinitas.org
I hope it's not too late to stop the construction of the underground pedestrian crossing at Santa Fe.
ReplyDeleteThe period for comments on the environmental review is already expired.
Bob, do you think it's too late for Cardiffians to work toward undergrounding that portion of the tracks, also?
Sorry about the typo. I intended to write "When elected to the Encinitas City Council I will lobby to be Encinitas' representative on the NCTD Board of Directors.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's too late for anything as there is little money to do anything under current economic conditions.
ReplyDeleteThe Sante Fe Crossing should be a pedestrian bridge if a crossing is actually feasable at that location.
Undergrounding the rail corridor through Cardiff does not seem out of the question. Although there is the issue of interfacing with fragile coastal bluffs and the San Elijo Lagoon.
Bob just got my vote.
ReplyDeleteI have called for the lowering of the RR tracks for years now. Magically, many that ignored the problem seem to be on board. It is the only solution to a terrible problem.
ReplyDeleteThe double tracking through Leucadia will make the situation unbearable. The airport at Lindberg field closes every night at 11PM, allowing the communities of Point Loma and OB a peace filled nights sleep, yet the trains run through Leucadia all night and with double tracking you can expect that a train will sit on the tracks for tens of minutes if not an hour or more. All the while dumping unacceptable amounts of toxic gases onto a bedroom community.
Where will the money come from?? Of course the Feds!! Didn't Diane Feinstein run ad's on TV, telling you that if re-elected she would work to make California communities safer!! Isn't this such an issue?? Isn't this why you re-elected her?? Don't expect Congressman Bilbray to help, his office is run by crabby pants Guerin, she never gave a shit about Leucadia. Still doesn't.
BUT A MORE IMPORTANT QUESTION...why is there no political will on the part of the Encinitas city council to lower the tracks. Is this the legacy of the council?? And all past councils?? What will it take to get the council to lower the tracks?? Does a School bus full of children need to be wiped out for some sort of action be taken??
Any and all incumbents on the council need to be removed from office this November. Any council member not up for re-election needs to be informed that this is THE issue facing Leucadia and failure to toe the line with lowering the tracks will result in their defeat come election time.
Underground passage walkways is simple folly!!! More wasted money that doesn't grow on trees!! Any council member that votes to continue this line of action must be defeated for re-election.
Elect no one to the ECC if they do not support lowering the tracks. from Cardiff to LaCosta. And not a half ass lowering like they do with the landscaping around Leucadia. Any lowering must be all at once, not like the downtown street scape. Lowering the tracks must be the most important issue for the citizens of Encinitas until the job is completed. Maggie, you have your library, now it is time to get on board something that will bring REAL VALUE to ALL of Encinitas.
I am the Roadside Park Bum and I approved this message!!
go Bob! underground the RR, build an appropriate infrastructure... preserve Leucadia
ReplyDeleteThe botched flooding "solution" that actually made flooding in Leucadia WORSE will be trotted out as an excuse as to why the tracks can't be below grade. Tunnels will be crime magnets, covered with graffiti and stinking of urine, guaranteed.
ReplyDeleteBob N. You are an idiot. No under or above crossings should be built until all the tracks through our city have been under grounded. If they want to spend money put at grade pedestrian crossing like they have done and are proposing with the sprinter. Go to Evergreen nursery and you can see a nice at grade crossing for nursery business.
ReplyDeleteBob you are a typical politician, you changed your position three times during this thread. What exactly is your position on this?
Go look at the tunnel in Oceanside. At every second of the day, there are trolls hanging out, smoking gigs and chatting about where they can score there next hit of ice. Oh wait, I have to pee…. no problem, whip it out and let it go. The maintenance guys are out there daily hosing down the toilet bowl, I mean tunnel.
ReplyDeleteThat’s it build the tunnel and dedicate it its inventor… Jerome Stocks. That way every time someone gets raped or stabbed, the papers can call out the wonderful Politician sponsoring the crime tunnel in lieu of the proper fix grade separation.
If the USA has a trillion dollars and countless live available for a purposeless occupation of Iraq, we can find some politicians to pony up a few million for this major problem with a positive purpose.
ReplyDeleteWe need to get a council dedicated to the issue, instead of Jerome Stocks saying it will never happen and the tracks were here first so live with it.
Jerome is in full support of NCTD current Position. He is the problem and needs to go.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNotaxlady, My postion has always been it is in the best interest of encinitas residents and merchants is to put the LOSAN railcorridor tracks below grade and covered.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Sante Fe crossing proposal currently being discussed, my point was the tunnel is totally wrong for the area, a bridge would work better at that location. But I don't see that as a feasible option either.
Undergrounding through Encinitas is the only sensible option.
As a member of the Encinitas City Council I would lobby state State and Federal officials to lower the tracks for economic reasons.
Thank you Notaxlady for requesting a clarification.
Nanningaforencinitas.org
At least Bob posts his thoughts on this issue on the blog. I haven' heard a word from the other candidates like Joe and Rachelle. For that alone, I am tending to consider casting my vote for Bob. Those candidates know about his blog and probably read it. Is it not P.C. to post on this blog? We re the "common folks". Perhaps we are not their constiuancy?
ReplyDeleteThe current situation is dangerous, unhealthy dirty, noisy and cuts through the heart of our neighborhood. People who do not now walk a mile out of their way to cross legally will likely not walk a half mile to do so either. No thank you to pedestrian tunnels. Bury and cover the track please.
ReplyDeleteIf any of you have a chance to read why Jerome wants to stay on the City Council you might want to check it out. He is stating that he wants to stay on the Council so he can continue to be on the North County Transit Board. So folks, shall we let him?
ReplyDeleteHell know. I watch Jerome Stocks say at a council meeting that the tracks will never be lowered through Encinitas.
ReplyDeleteI think he is the worse candidate for City Council, the worse Councilmember for Leucadia's future, and the worse NCTD representative our City could have.
One thing for certain. If your for grade seperated tracks, you can not support Jerome Stocks.
we need to sink the tracks, this will be the long term solution to many problems. I know the key element is $. However, this will be the best for Leucadia
ReplyDeleteI wrote the city in November to complain about the absurd undercrossings when everybody knows the track should be lowered. FYI they responded with the following:
ReplyDelete"Thank you for your comments regarding the rail corridor. Your inquiry has been past to the City Manager’s Office. The Encinitas Grade Separated Pedestrian Crossings is a joint project between the San Diego Association of Government (SANDAG) and the City of Encinitas. Funding was awarded by the State California Transportation Commission for the design, preliminary engineering and environmental review phases for four grade-separated crossing along the rail corridor that runs through Encinitas. Public workshops were held in June 2005, August 2005 and January 2006 to obtain input on preferred type of structure (tunnel. overpass or rail underpass) and other features. The consensus for all the sites was an underpass option for the pedestrian crossings. The project is currently in the permitting and environmental review phase. Several of the necessary draft technical studies including traffic analysis, hydrology, visual, noise, hazardous waste, & archaeological and cultural resources are substantially complete. Once these extensive technical studies are complete, the project will seek environmental permitting that includes public agency and public notification and comment period. At the December 5, 2007 City Council meeting, a status report on the Project was presented and direction obtained to proceed with the environmental review process seeking a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the original three pedestrian grade-separated sites (Montgomery, Sante Fe & El Portal). The Hillcrest site would be placed on a separate environmental review track, as it appears to require more extensive environmental review and the desire to conduct further structure alternative analysis.
State rail funds are the funding source for the preliminary design and environmental review process for the Project. The Project’s funding allocation and scope were approved by the California Transportation Commission Construction funding for the Project, estimated at $5+ million per site, has not fully been identified, and most likely will need to be conducted in phases. Information the Encinitas Grade Separate Rail crossing is on the City’s web site under “Government”, City Projects, then scroll down to the project name “Encinitas Grade Separated Pedestrian Rail Crossings”. It is a big file and will take awhile to download.
Regarding your comments on pedestrian activity over the rail tracks; it is important to note that crossing of the rail track at undesignated crossing locations is very dangerous as well as illegal. The most recent data I have on file on pedestrian vs train fatalities along the Los Angeles to San Diego (LOSSAN) rail corridor within San Diego County are 13 deaths. Three of those thirteen 2006 fatalities were in Encinitas.
Lastly, regarding long-term rail corridor planning - Encinitas as well as other Southern California cities along the LOSSAN Corridor fought very hard to urge the various rail agencies to embark on a comprehensive rail improvement plan for the entire corridor. Caltrans Division of Rail and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Rail Administration undertook the process in 2002 that resulted in the development of the “LOSSAN Corridor Strategic Plan”. The LOSSAN Strategic Plan details proposed short and long-term rail improvements along the 127.5 mile LOSSAN corridor. Within the City of Encinitas, the evaluation reviewed three options: no-build, at-grade with grade separation for roadways, short trench, and a long trench. The long trench option was eliminated from further evaluation do to its feasibility, high cost and constructability. The LOSSAN plan does note the importance of pedestrian grade separations, specifically mentioning the need in Encinitas. The Caltrans/ FRA document can be found on Caltrans’ Rails website at http://www.dot.ca.gov/rail/go/dor/division-of-rail-reports/index.cfm and clicking on LOSSAN Report.
I hope this information answers your inquiry."
so it looks as though we can still hope for a short trench, providing its not too late to identify where the funding for the undercrossings is coming from and beg them not to throw money at this terrible project. anyone know where funding is coming from?
logic 7 reason:
ReplyDeleteWas the year 2002 an election year when Guerin and the others promised to fight the double tracking? The councilpersons had to buy time until the election. A few days before the election, the lawsuit was settled. The money that'd being used for the studies is from the Encinitas general fund. The CAT may have released money to pay back Encinitas, but the money goes to SANDAG first for dispersing.
Thank you logic & reason for forwarding the city's response to your comments about pedistrian undercrossings.
ReplyDeleteI still say the long trench is possible.
The workshops that were held before were not fair, because undergrounding the train was considered out of the question.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, only bridges, or over passes were considered, or tunnels. The tunnels were considered preferable because they have less visual impact.
However, for the total cost of the pedestrian tunnels, we could underground the train, as Solana Beach did.
This is so expensive, and so important, it could be voted upon, and should be.
I agree, most residents are on board to underground. Some had been discouraged to think it could not happen by Jerome Stocks and buddies.
What expert representing Encinitas interests reviewed the “LOSSAN Corridor Strategic Plan”?
ReplyDeleteI bet no one. I bet the City didn’t even comment on the study. Studies produce bogus recommendations all the time. Old saying is true. Garbage In= Garbage Out.
I am sure the study did not evaluate the funding source by leasing out the space above the lowered tracks for the next 100 years. The leasing of the space to commercial is a huge revenue opportunity for repaying bonds that would pay for the construction of an undergrounding project.
Where there is a will, there is a way. The City leaders just need to open their minds, surround themselves with intelligent people, and come up with the will to get it down.
If you reduced the budget for the Ritz Fire Station remodels and Regional sports complex, the City could easily free up $50,000,000 for such a project. With that kind of seed money plus the lease revenue from the space above, the project could surely get grant funds from the Federal Government.
Make it happen.
Interestingly, the LOSSAN report makes comments regarding community opinion on the At-Grade with Grade Separations option ["Although this concept does not have as much support from the community as the Short Trench option, the grade-separations at Leucadia Blvd. and Birmingham Drive are supported and would provide significant benefits to the community."] and the Short Trench option ["Public acceptability for the Short Trench Option has been very positive."].
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that our community response as determined by CalTrans and the Federal Rail Administration in 2003 was strongly pro-trench, then suddenly turned against trenching by the time the City of Encinitas got to measuring public opinion in 2005.
I AM WILLING TO PAY AN EXTRA 1 CENT SALES TAX AND PAY 1 PERCENT MORE ON MY PROPERTY TAX TOWARDS THIS ISSUE OF LOWERING THE TRACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAre you? Or do you want everything given' to you?
Lowering the tracks in Leucadia
ReplyDeletewould do much to improve the
aesthetics here. Raising them on
a trestle with a three-foot wall
on both sides will baffle the noise
of wheels on the rails. It is a
much more cost-effective way to
improve safety while avoiding the
negative consequences of impeding
the flow of groundwater through to
the beach. The main question is
how such a project will be funded.
Indeed, since we know that raising
tax rates will result in reduced
revenue, the best idea will be to
solicit funds from the state and
the federal government despite the
regressive inclination of both
governmental entities raise tax
rates. There's already a shortage
of revenue to fund this and the
day-to-day operations in other
areas such as education, promoting
environmental harmony and the con-
tinued subsidy of institutions like
hospitals, prisons and road con-
struction. Fiscal responsibility
is of paramount importance, and
finding the most cost-effective
alternative to keep people safe
ought to be the goal.
Yours very truly, Paul Martens
Please write to the City Council and City Manager that you want to bury AND cover the tracks. If they don't get any feedback, they won't know that is what we want.
ReplyDeleteDo it today!
Lowering the tracks will be good for the economy and great for the environment. Undergrounding the rail corridor will significantly raise property values along Vulcan and the Coast Highway, ease traffic congestion and enhance walkablity. It will also reduce noise pollution.
ReplyDelete