DEL MAR: No temp train platform for San Diego County Fair, races
By: PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer
Board decides to spend limited funding on other projects | ∞
DEL MAR -- The Del Mar Fairgrounds may be the spot where the surf meets the turf, but it appears the popular summer destination won't be meeting trains anytime soon.
Fairgrounds and transit officials said this week that a temporary train platform planned for the fairgrounds will not be built in time for the San Diego County Fair in June or for July's annual thoroughbred meet.
Becky Bartling, the fairgrounds' deputy general manager, said two projects -- the installation of a roof over the facility's open-air arena and the replacement of an underwater sewer line -- have taken precedence over the platform for now.
"We just didn't have the money to do everything this year, but we still strongly believe that the platform is a good idea and we will continue to pursue it," Bartling said.
Richard Eckfield, a Carlsbad resident who has tirelessly pushed for a train stop at the fairgrounds, noted that the San Diego Association of Governments recently included a permanent fairgrounds train stop in an ongoing rail development study.
He said a temporary stop would be nice, but the permanent one is still more important.
"The real key is keeping the eye on the permanent stop," Eckfield said.
According to fair board records, a record 1.26 million people attended the 2007 San Diego County Fair. Some took trains to the Solana Beach transit center, then shuttle buses from there to the fairgrounds.
However, transit officials have said a train platform within walking distance of the fairgrounds would get many more people to ride the rails to events there.
David Druker, a Del Mar city councilman who represents his city on the North County Transit District, said he was disappointed that the temporary platform would not be ready for opening day this year. The transit district runs the Coaster trains that pass the fairgrounds.
"There's no doubt that it would be wonderful to be able to have a temporary platform up and running," Druker said "The trains are already passing, and it just makes so much sense for them to stop."
Bartling said the fair board estimated that the temporary platform, which would be built next to a triangular property the transit district owns just south of Jimmy Durante Boulevard, would cost about $1 million.
She said the sewer line project, which aims to remove and replace the fairgrounds' main sewer line, also costs about $1 million and was deemed immediately important. The sewer line runs along the bottom of the San Dieguito River to Del Mar and a river dredging effort is scheduled for next year.
Bartling said the board felt it would be prudent to replace the line before the dredging starts. "If that line were to break, it would be an environmental catastrophe," she said.
Druker said he understood that the board must prioritize its expenses.
"There is just not enough money out there do to it this year," he said.
-- Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.
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Commuter wrote on Mar 24, 2008 12:35 PM:The sooner they do this the better. Fair and Racing traffic is the worst!
John E wrote on Mar 24, 2008 1:26 PM:The current shuttle bus connection is extremely convenient. Alternatively, the walk from the train station to the Solana Gate is pleasant and just over a mile, most of it on the new multiuse trail on the east side of Coast Highway 101.
maybe wrote on Mar 24, 2008 1:35 PM:Maybe the city & the coaster should pitch in, since they will also benifit! Less traffic means less traffic cops & more riders means more money for the coaster!
Maybe it's me ... wrote on Mar 24, 2008 2:40 PM:Am I missing something here? They're going to build the train platform ..."next to a triangular property the transit district owns just south of Jimmy Durante Boulevard ..." That seems like the wrong side of the fairgrounds for a train platform. The tracks run on the west side of the fairgrounds, right below the Brigantine restaurant. Jimmy Durante Blvd. is on the east side, clear across the fairgounds. I'm all for building a train platform, but shouldn't they put it on the west side of the fairgrounds where the trains actually are?
Jason wrote on Mar 24, 2008 4:38 PM:Way to support public transportation. Guess I'll just drive my car like everyone else :(
Floyd wrote on Mar 24, 2008 10:04 PM:It seems to me that Amtrak has some stops with no platforms. The conductor just places some portable steps next to the train to make it easy to get on and get off. Then all you'd need is a pathway to and from the fairgrounds, and you're set. Quick, easy, inexpensive, and do-able.
Umm.. wrote on Mar 24, 2008 11:14 PM:$1 Million for a TEMPORARY platform?
$1 million!?!??!
Come on. Amtrak stops plenty of places without a platform. Thats just absurd.
Zephon wrote on Mar 25, 2008 4:08 PM:The train already stops in Solana Beach.
There is no need for another stop in Del Mar.
Del Mar used to have a stop until the Del Martians wanted it removed and Solana Beach stepped up and worked with the train folks and created a new station.
Terri wrote on Mar 25, 2008 7:49 PM:So everyone isn't bothered by the traffic on the 5 during the fair? I will not go anywhere near Del Mar during the fair, let alone actually going to the fair! Let the NCTD pay thousands in fines thanks to the Sprinter, when the money could have been used to fund a stop near the fairgrounds! Time for a performance review of some of the NCTD board members and employees!
Zephon wrote on Mar 26, 2008 7:13 AM:The distance from the proposed Del Mar platform is not any closer than the existing Solana Beach station to an entrance of the Fair/Racetrack.
Bottom line - if you want to take the train to the fair or races you already have that option.
Horsefeathers wrote on Mar 26, 2008 11:52 PM:Zephon is nutz! The current Solana Beach platform is at least a mile away, while the proposed "temporary" platform is about 1/4 mile.
Zephon wrote on Mar 27, 2008 10:30 AM:Walking from the proposed del mar platform is at least one mile away from an entrance. You have to walk up 15th street, go down camino del mar, then to Jimmy durante where you can get in the south entrance. Camino del mar has no sidewalk and is quite dangerous to walk on as well as Jimmy Durante.
From the Solana Beach station you walk down Cedros to Via De la Valle and enter the North entrance. With shops and storefronts at the Cedros district making it a pleasant and interesting walk. Of course there is a shuttle from the SB station as well. A similar distance if not shorter than the proposed del mar platform - but also the SB station is a much safer walk as the roads are wider and slower and have sidewalks.
Jay wrote on Mar 27, 2008 12:10 PM:I would like to see the proposed heli pad finished first. It would help quite a few people avoid traffic altogether making the fair a more enjoyable experience.
Jody H. wrote on Mar 28, 2008 7:51 PM:the racetrack and fair should suspend their advertising for 2008 and fund this. It is the single best marketing move they can make but, then again their marketing people are suviving on location and luck. Time to change management at the lessor and the lessee! and hold retirement parties.
Best-kept secret wrote on Mar 30, 2008 10:19 AM:Maybe some of you folks don't know about the FREE double-decker buses that go from the Solana Beach train station directly to the ticket gate of the track during racing season. It's fast, free and kinda fun to sit on the upper deck in the open air.
As for the Del Mar Fair, there are already lots of shuttle buses coming from every direction. People just don't use them.
Lifetime local wrote on Mar 30, 2008 11:38 AM:Snooty Del Mar could have had a permanent train stop but Del Martians are too good for public transit and feared that lower class citizens from areas such as Oceanside and Encinitas may actually use the train to visit Del Mar. Now they wat a temporary station because people going to the fair and the races don't drive Escalades, Hummers, Masseratis, etc. ...
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