Del Mar asks for delay to bridge replacement

The city is requesting SANDAG hold off on replacing a wooden trestle as the agency’s Board of Directors has yet to select a route for the railroad realignment off the bluffs

The city of Del Mar is asking SANDAG to delay replacing a wooden trestle until the Board of Directors selects a route to move the railroad tracks off the bluffs. Courtesy photo

DEL MAR — The Del Mar City Council is asking the San Diego Association of Governments to delay constructing a replacement bridge and special events platform.

Councilwoman Terry Gaasterland, the city’s SANDAG representative, said the city is requesting the delay to the $347 million project until the board selects a railroad alignment option. She said the city’s rationale is the environmental studies for the San Dieguito bridge are not consistent with the current railroad relocation, while the 2025-26 environmental study for the realignment finds the preferred alternative makes the bridge obsolete.

SANDAG currently has four rail-related capital improvement projects in the city. Those include the realignment project in the environmental review phase, the double tracking and bridge replacement, bluffs stabilization and bluffs access improvements.

The trestle project, though, would replace the wooden structure with a concrete bridge with double tracking. SANDAG has been double-tracking its segment of the LOSSAN corridor (Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Opisbo) for years with a goal of running two tracks from the county border to downtown San Diego. The long-term goal is to double track the entire corridor.

“We have received the letter from the City of Del Mar and are reviewing it,” SANDAG said in a statement. “Any action to delay the San Dieguito Double Track and Special Events Platform project would need to be considered and approved by the SANDAG Board of Directors.”

The bridge is part of a larger project to include a special events platform at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The platform is specific to the fairgrounds and there is no access for passengers to walk to Del Mar or Solana Beach, Gaasterland said.