On Nov. 20, nearly 100 community members attended a public input workshop with the City of Carlsbad, San Diego Association of Governments and North County Transit District to learn about a project to lower the railroad tracks through the Village and Barrio and provide feedback. An online public input survey is also open until Dec. 13.
To prepare to fill out the survey and learn more about the project, please watch the SANDAG presentation from the Nov. 20 community input workshop here.
Train traffic is expected to double through Carlsbad by 2035. To accommodate the increase, SANDAG is planning to build a second set of train tracks through northern Carlsbad. The result would be a continuous 8.6-mile stretch of double tracks with an expected 100 trains traveling through Carlsbad per day.
Since the railroad crosses through two of Carlsbad’s oldest neighborhoods, the Village and Barrio, the planned expansion of a second set of railroad tracks poses unique challenges to the city.
In 2014, the Carlsbad City Council made it a city priority to explore lowering the tracks below street level in a trench. A study conducted by the city, SANDAG and the NCTD determined in 2017 that lowering the railroad tracks into a trench is technically feasible and minimizes safety and traffic concerns.
As SANDAG plans the construction of double tracks and considers trenching the portion through the Village and Barrio, two alternatives are now under consideration:
A short trench running from Carlsbad Boulevard to the north side of Tamarack Avenue
A long trench running from Carlsbad Boulevard to the south side of Tamarack Avenue
Both alternatives would:
Replace the railroad bridge across Buena Vista Lagoon
Reconstruct the overpass for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers at Carlsbad Boulevard
Create an overpass for pedestrians and bicyclists at Beech Street
Create an overpass for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers at Grand Avenue
Create an overpass for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers at Carlsbad Village Drive
Create an overpass for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers at Oak Avenue
Learn more about the differences between the two alternatives here.
Lowering the railroad tracks below street level is reported to have a variety of benefits, including
