Print
A railroad service suspension planned for this weekend between Solana Beach and San Diego has been cancelled after the completion of the current phase of emergency repairs to the bluffs in Del Mar.
Train traffic was halted over four previous weekends in March and April for work crews to install 18 concrete-and-steel columns called “soldier piles.” The columns were sunk up to 60 feet deep into the upper bluffs and connected to tieback anchors into the cliffs for reinforcement, according to the San Diego Association of Governments.
Additional repairs will be completed later this spring and summer along the face of the slope on the upper bluffs, and a new seawall will be installed on the beach below the bluffs just south of Fourth Street in Del Mar, SANDAG said. Work is expected to be finished by the end of the summer.
Study shows best route for Del Mar train tunnel
Proposed alignments for the train tunnel through Del Mar.
(Courtesy SANDAG)
Print
Recent studies show a route through Crest Canyon is the highest rated of five potential choices for a railroad tunnel that would take the railroad tracks off the eroding coastal bluffs in Del Mar.
Other possible underground routes include one along Interstate 5, one beneath the street of Camino Del Mar though the city of Del Mar, and two more through Crest Canyon, according to a conceptual analysis by the San Diego Association of Governments and its consultants.
SANDAG, North County Transit District and other local agencies have talked for years about moving the tracks off the bluffs, but only recently have the agencies received grant money for the preliminary studies required. Construction alone is expected to cost $3 billion or more.
In addition to the extended rail closure this weekend, there will be one more partial rail closure between the Solana Beach Station and Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego to accommodate additional emergency bluff repairs from Saturday, May 1, at midnight through Monday, May 3, at 4 a.m. A San Diego resident captured video of a bluff collapsing at Torrey Pines State Beach on Dec. 31, 2020. No one was hurt.
In Del Mar, crews will continue tieback anchor installation along previously placed support columns into the bluffs south of Fourth Street as part of emergency repairs following a bluff collapse in late February. Tieback anchors are steel wires that will help reinforce the bluffs and protect the tracks. The work includes welding, testing anchors and pouring concrete. Emergency stabilization repairs are expected to be complete by summer.
Full weekend rail closure due to Del Mar bluff repairs
ABC 10News
and last updated 2021-04-23 13:21:29-04
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - All rail services from Solana Beach to San Diego will shut down just after midnight through early Monday morning to accommodate Del Mar Bluff stabilization emergency repairs, according to the San Diego Association of Governments.
The regional rail closure impacts the North County Transit District, Amtrak and freight carrier BNSF and will be in effect from just after midnight Saturday through Monday at 4 a.m.
In addition to the extended rail closure this weekend, there will be one more partial rail closure between the Solana Beach Station and Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego to accommodate additional emergency bluff repairs from Saturday, May 1, at midnight through Monday, May 3, at 4 a.m.