Here is a look at the proposed pedestrian crossing at Santa Fe Rd, across from Swamis.
This one isn't so much a tunnel like the underground pedestrian crossings in Leucadia would be, it's more like a standard undercrossing due to the geography of the area.
I live near Santa Fe DR and I would rather have more sidewalks along the road than an underground passage to the ocean.
ReplyDeleteThis is more window dressing on the part of your city to confuse the real problems facing the city.
There are piss poor sidewalks from I-5 east to El Camino Real.
Get real city council and give us what we need, not trophy projects so your name goes on a bronze plaque forever and ever.
Is there going to be a crosswalk or a stop sign or a traffic signal or a roundabout on the coast highway on the other side of this thing, or is it a bridge to nowhere?
ReplyDeleteBury the tracks.... stop the tunnel nonsense.
ReplyDeleteInvest in Leucadia
JP...Good questions to ask at the Planning Commission meeting Thursday night.
ReplyDeleteThe report states there will be a pedestrian traffic signal on 101 at crossing.
ReplyDeleteTunnel the train, not the people. Having crossed the train tracks at the end of Santa Fe, it does not line up with Swami's, you still have to walk south to get to the beach access. Also the grade slopes down from east to west -- to get underneath the tracks, there will have to be a steep uphill to meet grade level at 101 -- this illustration seems to suggest the tunnel goes under 101 also. This is a stupid idea. Put at grade crossings! Cheaper and more effective and would be used. Also, this illustration looks nothing like the real topography of shrub and dirt -- is the NCTD going to all of a sudden plant landscaping because a human sewage tunnel is installed -- think not. Bad idea, bad conception and bad spending. What is wrong with this Council and the Planning Dept. It's time someone pulled the proverbial thumb out of his proverbial ass.
ReplyDeleteYes at grade crossings are cheaper and could be constructed faster but they require gates.
ReplyDeleteWhen the gates go down the bells start ringing and the train honks its horn.
Watch what you wish for, unless you live next to the crossing and don't mind the noise at 2am when the freight train goes through town.
Bonddi is right. The conceptual drawing doesn't match up with reality. The distance between Vulcan/San Elijo and Highway 101 is short and steep. The depiction is designed to deceive.
ReplyDeletePut in a temporary at grade crossing, then lower the tracks. Last night at the council meeting there was a presentation by Sandag/Transnet. There is a good chance that money will be available for major improvements on the rail corridor. Gary Gallegos admitted that there would be more emphasis on rail because of rising fuel prices and the restraints of greenhouse gas emisssions under AB 32.
Maggie asked a lot of questions, and Mayor Stocks thanked him for a wonderfully informative presentation. But were they listening? We will see.
Gallegos' real purpose was to push for the proposed quality of life tax. If this increase in sales tax passes, I don't want my tax money going for crime-ridden tunnels.
The 2 am Santa Fe freight train already blows it's horn nonstop from Chesterfield to Leucadia Blvd.
ReplyDeleteJerry-
ReplyDeleteBury the Tracks Not People.
My Friend lives near the Oceanside Person Tunnel under the tracks.
Every time I have used that tunnel, the trolls are there doing troll things.
Kids selling drugs, bums peeing and defecating, perves checking out the teenagers watching for vulnerabilities.
Do not put humans under the trains in Encinitas. The community will pay.
As for as train noise- Hog Wash.
Smart Cities are adopting quiet zones for all their high-priced coastal properties. Are we smart or stupid?
Plus at grade pedestrian crossing may make the trains slow to below 90mph like in San Clemente. In San Clemente the Amtrack goes about 20 mph with a pleasant bell instead of an deafening blast .
If Council moves forward with these tunnels, our coastal area will pay dearly forever.
Surely our share of $9B along with the $20M and Section 130 money would go a long way towards burying the track.
ReplyDeletePlease see the below:
Prop 1 (SB 1856) - Financing a high-speed passenger train system: Nine billion dollars (9,000,000,000).
...
(d) Funds allocated ...for the rehabilitation or modernization of, or safety improvements to, tracks utilized for public passenger rail service, signals, structures, facilities, and rolling stock...
(e) Eligible recipients may use the funds for any eligible rail element
...
I have a caption for the bottom image:
ReplyDelete"That's right, little lady...just act like we're a normal couple, because if you scream for help, I'll rip your throat out after I skewer you in the ribs like the pig you are!"
Tunnel the train, not the people. This is a wonderful tag line or opening to an argument at the meeting.
ReplyDeleteHow does it work at tonight's planning meeting? Do we have the opportunity to speak?
I heard Gary Gallegos and the Sandag/Transnet self-congratulatory presentation. I was hearing the double track and the tunnels as already decided. These decisions are made without citizen imput. We are only allowed the window dressing meetings to put our opposition on paper. (In my opinion that is.)
Is tonight an opportunity to really put the cabbosh on the people tunnels? Realistically . . . Do we have a voice?
I also live near Santa Fe Dr., and what we really need are decent sidewalks from El Camino Real to the I-5. Why can't the beautiful Santa Fe Dr. project west of the I-5 be extended eastwards where the pedestrian population really lives/walks? This is the stretch that the school kids use. Putting in a sidewalk would reduce the need for parent chauffeurs (and their cars) along an already jammed stretch of roadway.
ReplyDeleteIt would be terrific to be able to walk or ride a bike all the way to Swami's along Santa Fe Dr.. My understanding was that the tunnels are being paid for the the transit district in return for the double tracking through Encinitas. Is this correct? If we say no to the tunnels do we lose the outside funding for all pedestrian rail crossings?
Funny how the city can spend money on projects like this, yet can't find a few thousand dollars to put some porta potties at Beacons.
ReplyDeleteVote the bums(but not me) out and vote in new bums that will continue to make the same shitty mistakes, so they can be ridiculed and laughed at on this blog.
RSPB
http://www.nctimes.com
ReplyDelete/articles/2008
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Biped-
ReplyDeleteGood points but get in line for Sante Fe Drive East.
Leucadia Boulevard west of I5 has been an ongoing project for 8 years. Phase 1 is a complete success but phase 2 is still 4 years away.
All of Sante Fe West was completed in 2004.
Once Leucadia Boulevard west is completed, the City can look to improve Sante Fe Drive East. That is after 2012.
You know the City can't afford to do more than one road project at a time because its choosing to spend $100 million on a regional park and $30 million on Firestation upgrades.
Your tax dollars at work. If you not happy with it, vote out the bums.
Bury the Tracks, Not People.
These crossing are for lazy people. Walking improves your health and puts you contact with fellow citizens. The more you walk the better we are.
ReplyDeleteJust walk down to Encinitas Boulevard and walk back. It is very safe and you will get some great exercise.
We don't need any crossings. We aren't lazy people!!!!
Burying anything is nonsense. We should simply have numerous crossings (gated or not) up and down the tracks in Leucadia. One across from Pannikin, one a little north of Leucadia Blvd. One a few blocks south of the Pannikin. When the train comes, lights flash...not even sure you need gates. (When I see the flashing red light on a cross walk I always stop) Focus the money on beautifying the 101 -- landscaping, etc.
ReplyDeleteBurying the train is something that businesses and current thinking will fight tooth and nail. Forget for one moment only the costs.
ReplyDeletePlacing 2 tracks underground will create a whole new walkable, bike friendly zone adjacent to businesses. The noise, dust and pollution of the train will be gone.
The value to businesses, economy, beach community-centered living would be praised for years to come. This would encourage a more sustainable lifestyle (walker) and native (even edible) planting.
Okay, maybe not unicorns and rainbows, but a town we can be proud of calling home. And, the biggest crybabies now would most certainly take credit. . . as they do.
Oh, and the money is a foolish excuse given the crap this city, state and federal governments fund now.
anon 2:19: Even when trains travel at (at least) 200 mph ala SB 1856? That's about (3) times the speed limit on the freeway (which is GRADE-SEPARATED from neighborhood streets).
ReplyDeleteWalker O sounds like a tard.
ReplyDeleteI was once a tard. Now I walk everywhere. Walking makes you smart. It stimulates the senses and gets oxygen to the brain.
ReplyDeletequite smelling gas and keep walking O, you've got a ways to go.
ReplyDeletei remember waiting at the light at lomas santa fe and 101 while the train went past. and now it's below street level...
ReplyDeletewhere did they get the money?
the real answer may be to go below grade from la costa ave. to past chesterfield... yeah its a large project, but the question is... do we live in the trains corridor or does the train pass through our nieborhood
s.b. did it, so WTF.
I am with Jordan-
ReplyDeleteWTF and Vote the Nightmare out.
Whenever Jerome enters the room there is always that weird sulfur smell.
Spread the word to five close Encinitas voters,
"Anyone but Jerome Stocks"
Thanks to gas prices, we no longer have to keep a commutor second lane for south bound traffic on HW101. Since the gridlock on I5 went away, our cut through traffic has ceased.
ReplyDeleteAll clear on freeways
7:03 AM July 18, 2008
The local freeways look pretty clear so far on this Friday morning, with no major delays or accidents being reported by the California Highway Patrol.
The roadway can easily handle one lane in each direction.
Encinitas Mayor Jerome Stocks has pulled papers for re-election to the Encinitas City Council.
ReplyDelete"I am here to serve Encinitas, and the concerns of our local area. We have a great town here and it will only get better with the right vision for the future. And While I'm very proud that we completed our beautiful new library, the improvements to Moonlight Beach, the investments in road and sidewalk improvements throughout our city and more, there is much yet to be done."
"It is my desire to be re-elected in November in order to continue working for the citizens of Encinitas on important local issues like protecting private property rights and completing the Hall Property Park; as well as representing Encinitas on critical regional issues like the I-5 widening project at SANDAG to improve the freeway gridlock commuters endure every day" said Stocks.
Jerome Stocks is the only member of the Encinitas City Council with school-age children and a private-sector job.
Jerome Stocks is a local business owner and an Encinitas homeowner since 1986.
The Stocks family includes his wife Lisa, a nurse at UCSD, daughter Halley, son Jimmy, and Daughter Dorothy. To contact Jerome with your ideas and concerns, please e-mail him at: jerome@stocksinsurance.com, or phone 760-635-0425.
I live in Cardiff near Santa Fe. Why oh why doesn't the city use the money to make the Leucadia Blvd. & 101 intersection safer? Every time I wait for traffic there and see the pedestrians (including kids on bikes) risking their lives cross, I hold my breath. It's so dangerous. It took an innocent teenager getting killed under the freeway on Santa Fe to make the city widen the sidewalk and put a barrier up. Is that what has to happen on Leucadia and 101?
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD. Jerome is the sound bite king and completely bad for Encinitas.
ReplyDeleteI would respect him if he just spoke the truth and said,
" I want to get reelected to represent the people who support me including the employee's unions and the developers. I view the public who comment on City affairs as nuisance pains in my ass"
Hey Jerry-
ReplyDeletedid you help with devalueing the dollar because after that the dollar tanked, gas got way more expensive, and the gridlock on I5 dissapeared?
There is not more gridlock on I5 and when gas hits $7 per gallon it will be like an empty freeway like the 70s.
No need for the massive freeway improvements anymore.
Its time to start living within our means. and let Mexicans live in Mexico.
I noticed today while driving on Encinitas Blvd that the under crossing at I-5 does not have an area designated for walkers. I think we have another Santa Fe dr. pedestrian crushing waiting to happen. When will our city council get their collective heads out of their butts and give us the safety measures we need.
ReplyDeleteNo more BS projects.
Pedestrian tunnels are not the answer.
ReplyDeleteThis plan lacks vision and understanding. A costly boondoggle of myopic proportions, the proposed under crossings are crime scenes waiting to happen.
Encinitas residents in Leucadia and Cardiff deserve to be listened to, and heard, on the myriad train "issues" impacting these coastal communities.
Under grounding the rail corridor, below grade, through Encinitas is the only way to include a second track.
It is time for the Encinitas City to start planning for the inevitable and start demanding from state and federal government for assistance and funding for the rail expansion upgrade needed to accommodate future rail needs in Southern California.
It's vision time.