A study assessing alternatives in the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Realignment Project has identified enhancements and new route alternatives for relocating the tracks.
Conducted by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the Value Analysis Study for the LOSSAN Track Relocation Project looked at alternatives in response to public feedback SANDAG received on the Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the project. Done using representatives with technical expertise from Carlsbad, Del Mar, Encinitas, San Diego, Solana Beach, 22nd District Agricultural Association, North County Transit District, and Caltrans, the analysis looked at the value offered by going in different directions with the project.
The LOSSAN rail corridor is the only rail connection between San Diego and the rest of the state, as well as the second busiest intercity rail route in the U.S. One segment of the corridor, along the Del Mar bluffs, is a single tracked segment that has experienced temporary closures and speed reductions because of bluff collapses, erosion and repair work. While the stabilization projects and emergency repairs address safety and operational concerns, officials said, they don’t provide a long-term solution.
Plans to replace the track with a double track would increase system efficiency and service reliability while reducing travel times, but the portion of the LOSSAN corridor on the Del Mar bluffs is in a constrained area increasing the challenges to finding adequate solutions.
In 2017, SANDAG finished a conceptual alignment study to find ways to improve the rail service, followed by an alternatives analysis, that was released in 2023. That study, combined with public outreach and stakeholder coordination and a screening report, led to a June 2024 Notice of Preparation for an Environmental Impact Report. The NOP identified a proposed project, including three proposed build alternatives for consideration. Public feedback to that led to the Value Analysis Study.
In response to feedback received during the scoping period, SANDAG initiated a VA Study comprised of representatives from potentially effected jurisdictions and SANDAG member agencies to gain additional input on the alternatives included in the NOP and collaboratively brainstorm ideas for potential project alignments.
While the location of the project was originally on the portion of the LOSSAN alignment between Solana Beach and Sorrento Valley, the boundaries were expanded during the VA study so as not to constrain ideas, officials said. The analysis looked at the value of relocating the track Under Crest Canyon (Under Jimmy Durante to I-5 Knoll), which would minimize subsurface easements by following Camino Del Mar; San Dieguito Bridge to I-5 Knoll, which would minimize impacts to Del Mar, the Fairgrounds, and San Dieguito Double Track Bridge; the Del Mar Double Track Reinforced, which would maintain the current alignment, add a double track along the bluffs with bluff reinforcement and more robust seawalls, and No Build, which would include the continuation of major stabilization efforts, without expanding the track.
SANDAG staff will now review the conceptual ideas raised in the study, as well as through prior studies, and public feedback to propose alternatives for the Board of Directors to consider at its meeting on Feb. 28.