Inflation, environmental concerns and spiraling costs have added $42.5 million to expenses related to replacing an 80-year-old wooden railroad trestle crossing the Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad.
This brings the total cost of the bridge to $165.6 million, which will feature two sets of tracks instead of that of the existing span. The project is part of the San Diego Government Association’s effort to line the entire 60-mile coastal rail corridor.
“Replacing these trestles is really important,” said SANDAG board member and Encinitas Mayor Tony Kranz. The bridges are long past their expected lifespan and the double track is important to improve service and efficiency on the rail route.
“These are important things, as painful as it is to find that extra money,” Krantz said, before the board approved the additional spending by a 10-4 vote at its Friday meeting.
More frequent and reliable rail service will take more vehicles off highways and reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gases, SANDAG officials said. The agency’s goal is to reduce travel time to 33 minutes on the Coaster commuter rail between Oceanside and downtown San Diego.
The new bridge will also be higher than the current one, to avoid sea level rise, with less of a footprint in the water to impede tidal currents in the lagoon.
Carlsbad City Council member Melanie Burkholder, who is also a SANDAG board member, opposed the increase. She said she would prefer to see the money go elsewhere, perhaps to advance a proposal to place the train tracks in a trench below street level in downtown Carlsbad.
Bridge costs have increased by 27 percent in the last year alone, according to a SANDAG report.
New requirements to avoid construction during the California tern nesting season, April 15 to July 31, extended the project timeline from two and a half years to four years, also increasing the cost. Construction is now expected to begin in August and be completed in 2029.
The bridge replacement is one of several transportation projects completed, underway or planned by SANDAG and the state Department of Transportation under what is called the North Coast Corridor Program.
This program includes environmental projects, such as the San Elijo Lagoon restoration completed in 2020 and the addition of carpool lanes on Interstate 5. The final stretch, between Palomar Airport Road in Carlsbad and State Route 78 in Oceanside, is nearing completion at a cost of $76 million.
The HOV lanes between Manchester Avenue, on the Solana Beach and Encinitas border, and Palomar Airport Road, were completed in 2022 at a cost of $322 million.
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