Photos from last Saturday. I sat thru 3 light cycles. It was brutal but I didn't road rage. I just chilled out to satellite radio and wondered what will be "the biggest thing ever to happen to Encinitas" as promised by the new chamber of commerce ceo. Good times.
all you so-called locals need to get a life. The train has been here longer than you.
ReplyDeleteif you want to bury it pay higher taxes or call your obamabuddy and call it stimulis like elsewhere.
Native Leucadian
How did Solana Beach manage to get the train buried? Was it their City Council?
ReplyDeleteToo bad people back up through the roundabouts instead of keeping them clear - what a mess.
ReplyDeleteDr. Lorri,
ReplyDeleteThe North County Transit District was in charge of lowering the tracks. They pulled money from federal and state grants, to name just a few sources.
Joe Kelligian had the right type of lobbying. He and the SB council were forward thinkers. We have a bunch of duds.
ReplyDeleteanon 11:11,
ReplyDeleteWe've had the tracks for a long time, but we didn't have this traffic mess, now did we?
When Solana Beach took the station they received funds for grade separation.
ReplyDeleteIt is anticipated that freight train traffic will likely increase locally. My guess is we'll see more double tracking before grade separation.
Somehow this city doesn't seem to be able to do anything forward thinking. There is no vision and people are so afraid of change that we get stuck with conditions like the one here. But I suppose the old timers like it just the way it is.
We have a station in Encinitas for the Coaster so why didn't we get underground money. Don't get it at all.
ReplyDeleteSB worked super hard at this. Council took multiple trip to DC and hired a person "on the ground" in DC. The cost for the separation at the time was $18M.
ReplyDeleteThe estimate for Encinitas to do something similar was $56M-$70M right after SB was done. However, council did not try to raise funds, and NCTD was not sympathetic.
SB accepted the double tracking and planned to accomodate it, whereas Encinitas fought it (futilely) for many years. It's no wonder that NCTD has made no effort to improve the situation here in town.
ReplyDeleteThe most immediate solution to the problem is for the lights to cycle so that westbound Leucadia Blvd. and Vulcan traffic CLEAR after trains pass. As it is now, the priority appears to be for the 101 traffic to go green no matter how backed up things are east of the tracks. Backed-up 101 isn't desirable, but neither is what we have now. Traffic lights are pretty stupid, and so are people like the so-called native that opened these comments.
ReplyDeleteThere will never be a trench for the trains the length of Encinitas like in Solana Beach. SB had a strong argument about how Lomas Santa Fe was their lifeline to the coast and they were creative in solving the problem.
We should be working to get a trench dug that keeps the track grade the same from Batiguitos Lagoon to just south of Leucadia Blvd. Raise the grade to ground level by Central School and put a pedestrian tunnel in there. A project like this wouldn't be cheap or easy, but I think it is the most reasonable solution.
Get a life eh? You do realize that the number of trains per day is going up to 100. Leucadia blvd will be unusable.
ReplyDeleteSo much for Jerome being president the of the NCTD. You think with that kind of clout, he could have done something. Underground tunnels are NOT the answer IMHO.
ReplyDeleteDr. Lorri,
ReplyDeleteMy recollection is that it cost 20 million to lower the tracks in SB 16 years ago, and the city of SB only had to shell out 2 million of it.
They SAY it would cost us 100 times that now, but at least our city initials aren't SB.
Up until the Coaster being in the late 1990s, we used to see 12 to 14 trains per day. We had a peaceful beach town. All of that is gone.
ReplyDeleteWe are currently have 74 trains (500% increase)a day screaming through town, and planning for over 120 (900% increase) a day in the next decade or so..... talk about an increase in traffic in noise!
that is much more noise and traffic affecting business and property values along the coastal corridor. The lower property values and business sales, the lower revenue for the City.
If they addressed the issue, it would greatly help the City's financial condition and our quality of life. To bad, someone at City Hall can understand this logic.
Woops... I meant to say
ReplyDeleteTo bad, someone at City Hall Can NOT understand this logic."
.....and get some mitigation improvements for the negative impact to the community from the increase in train traffic from NCTD.
Quiet zones and grade seperation or intersection improvements would be good mitigation conditions.
I think Solana Beach got the money because of Amtrak. Encinitas has Coaster only.
ReplyDeleteTo continue the usual lamentations; We need someone with guts to push harder for more from NCTD and the other rail authorities. I have read that more freight is planned. Stocks is a do nothing. I bet Barth would get some people's attention. The key is 2010, we need to consolidate and get behind Barth plus another progressive.
BURY THE TRAIN!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree: The key is 2010, we need to consolidate and get behind Barth plus another progressive.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think will happen: "We" will have 5-6 candidates stealing votes from each other, and it will be Danny D and Doug Long. We'll have Dannyx2.
I wish I were not so negative, but it's hard not to be. We did it to ourselves last November. Maggie was #1 vote getter. The same people voting for Maggie could have voted for Rachelle, but they did not. They split their votes with Nanninga and other non-viable candidates. Rachelle ended up #5, behind Bond, Stocks, and Long.
We suffered 8 years and two wars with Bush, because votes in Florida and a couple other states voted for Nadar (another non-viable candidate).
JP. I call BS on sitting thru 3 traffic light cycles. I've been backed up to the circle several times and got thru in 1 light every time. Stop exaggerating.
ReplyDeleteI have sat through 3 lights many times. Over 12 minutes. No Shit!
ReplyDeleteI sat through 3 cycles there before, but I wasn't in a car.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to avoid sitting at the light, get on your bike. It's good for the air, good for your body, and is cheap. Its also fun!
ReplyDeletePoor quality bike lanes (lots of rubble and hacked up asphalt) and insufficient separate bike paths in this city!!
ReplyDeleteThe strange thing, looks like the Quato in total Recall. I love that movie, but hate the 90mph horn screaming polluting trains. Why can we plant a living fense to help hide and clean up the air around the train tracks.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem on Leucadia Blvd is when the light turns green to go west it's ok to turn right from 101 on to Leucadia Blvd. When the left turn pocket is working on 101 the green arrow is red,once the light turns green to cross 101 the green arrow for right turns comes on stopping or slowing left turns on to Vulcan backing up Leucadia Blvd Fixing the right turn arrow to stay red when traffic is moving west on Leucadia Blvd would reduce the backup.
ReplyDeleteOk..Ok...7 cycles, I kid you not!43 minutes, take that people...booya!
ReplyDeleteP.S.-JP that doesn't look like hands-free driving to me naughty, naughty...
Anonymous August 05, 2009 1:02 PM, no exaggeration. I sat thru 3 light cycles because the trains seemed to reset things back to zero. Also, people started gridlocking the roundabouts and 7-11 entrance/exit making thing difficult on green lights.
ReplyDeleteSorry to all the walkers and car haters, not sure how else I could make a Home Depot run on foot. Maybe I should get a pack mule?
use Ace hardware. Support local business not mega center business.
ReplyDeleteI sat thru 12 cycles yesterday. 48 minutes.
ReplyDeleteWhat ever 8:12... it sounds like you must not use Leucadia since you don't beleive there are massive backups do to the interestion signals and trains. It a problem thats just getting worse not better.
ReplyDeleteI meant Anon 8:05.
ReplyDeleteAce Hardware is a good store. Did you know that they are a co-op? They don't stock the lumber I needed for my project though.
ReplyDeletei like riding my bike past all the cars when its like that,
ReplyDeleteof course riding your bike down leucadia blvd is a life risking event.
what can i say
i live on the edge,
of the continent
How I deal with that situation is,
ReplyDeleteMiles Davis "kind of blue" in the cd player,
bom bom da da da da da da da bom bom,
I'll sit there all day.
CO-op? what do you mean by that?
ReplyDeleteWikipedia saids....."autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.[1] It is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit."
Is a co-op the biggest thing?
ReplyDeleteIs it bigger than the beach?
Is it bigger than the Ocean?
Why doesn't someone call the chamber and simply ask them either:
ReplyDelete"What is the biggest thing?", or "When will you tell us what the biggest thing is?"
I was gonna do it but couldn't stand the rejection if it wasn't one of my ideas. And if it was one of my ideas, I couldn't stand the plagerism.
I think it's safe to say it's not bigger than the beach and the ocean though. Unless Donald Trump moves to Encinitas. That would be SO BIG!
Ace Hardware is a co-op:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Hardware
Cool. thanks.... I will shop there more often!
ReplyDelete236 cycles
ReplyDeleteLeucadia Blvd. and Hwy 101 Went to the all flash mode today. It worked great. I think the City shoudl leave it in that mode for 1 week to see how it performs. Its the only time I see that intersection with no backups.
ReplyDeleteIt think it would always outperform the regular signal patterns.
9:29
ReplyDeleteYou're hired.
I agree w/ 9:29, Fred. Leave it flashing.
ReplyDeleteI DO NOT agree with anyone (Get a life???) who thinks no improvements should ever occur just because something (trains) were invented a long time ago.