Coast trail plans moving ahead

By: TIM MAYER - Staff Writer | Saturday, March 6, 2004 10:51 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD ---- A long-planned coastal hiking and biking trail along the railroad right of way has hit a bump in the road even before construction of Carlsbad's section of the 16-mile project begins.

Consultants for North County Transit District, the rail line's owner, have posted what some say amounts to a "Keep Out" sign along a three-mile stretch in the center of the city.

Envisioned by bicycle fans and planned for some 18 years as an alternative to the automobile, the original concept called for Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas and Solana Beach to build sections of the trail in the railroad right of way owned by North County Transit District.

The trail could eventually be extended through Del Mar and into San Diego.

Carlsbad is set to begin construction of a portion of its trail in October and complete it in September 2005.

The first phase planned for Carlsbad includes only a mile-long strip actually in the rail right of way from Tamarack to Oak avenues and then east to State Street. Future phases would continue the trail north along State Street to eventually link up with Oceanside's portion.

The first phase, estimated to cost $2.1 million, will also include a southern strip reaching northward from La Costa Avenue, but skirting Batiquitos Lagoon by following surface streets: Carlsbad Boulevard to Avenida Encinas and along Encinas to the Poinsettia Lane Coaster station.

"There's where we are stopped at this time," said Sherri Howard, the city's project engineer for the trail.

How the almost three-mile gap between Poinsettia and Tamarack will eventually be filled, nobody knows for sure.

Planners had once thought the trail could continue following the rail most of its length, and leap Agua Hedionda Lagoon at its narrowest part on its own bridge parallel to the existing rail bridge.

Later plans called for following the rail line only as far south as Cannon Road, and then swing onto Avenida Encinas to avoid restrictions in the rail right of way.

Throwing either plan up in the air is a map produced by transit district consultants in February marked with cross-hatches on the entire right of way from the Poinsettia station to Tamarack ---- basically, a "keep out" sign, Howard said.

Transit district spokesman Tom Kelleher said the problem is that the transportation agency is trying to balance a number of demands on the rail corridor, including the rail trail and future double-tracking in a portion of the right of way only 100 feet wide.

"Right now we are in a holding pattern because we haven't seen specific plans for the rail trail or for the future railroad expansion," he said.

The expansion could include the addition of track for a high-speed train system being proposed by the state reaching from San Francisco and Sacramento to San Diego.

One proposal calls for the high-speed trains to come south along an inland route following Interstate 15, but Kelleher said "another plan (state officials) wanted kept open is putting a high-speed extension from Los Angeles down the coast to San Diego because there is already a railroad right of way."

"We've shown a willingness all along to work with the cities, and we have clear direction from the (NCTD) board to put in the rail trail where possible, yet we have to keep an eye on railroad operations as well," Kelleher said. "We've got to balance the needs of everybody."

Last March, transit district board members rejected guidelines for the trail they felt would make the trail virtually impossible to build in part or all of some communities. One suggested restriction would have demanded the trail be no less than 50 or even 100 feet from the tracks.

The new guidelines adopted by the board only require that the trail be built "as far from the tracks as practicable" and gave cities the right to ask for a variance from the transit agency staff members. If denied, they can appeal to the full transit district board.

Carlsbad Councilwoman Ann Kulchin, the city's representative on the transit district board, said the board's intent and message to its staff when it comes to the rail trail is "to go ahead and make it work. Just do it.

"Sometimes people spend more time telling you why they can't do something, and if they just took that energy and turned it around in a positive way, it can be done," she said.

Having a rail trail that relies mainly on pathways in city streets "is ridiculous," Kulchin said. "We wanted most of it in the right of way."

Howard said city officials will be continuing to negotiate with the transit district to get as much of the trail within the rail right of way as possible, but right now she said her focus is getting the first phase of construction under way and completed.

If the construction contract is not awarded by the October deadline and completed by the fall of 2005, the city will risk losing a $1.1 million federal grant which will pay for more than half the work, she said.

Solana Beach broke ground on a portion of its trail in December. Oceanside is expected to begin construction in April.

Contact staff writer Tim Mayer at (760) 901-4043 or tmayer@nctimes.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, email addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.