Oceanside CA— A full rail closure will be in effect this weekend to accommodate scheduled work along the passenger and freight rail line between Oceanside and San Diego.
The scheduled closure will occur just after midnight on Saturday, February 22, through early morning on Monday, February 24.
To improve capacity and efficiency, SANDAG will complete several projects to double track rail service where there is currently one track. This work includes the anticipated completion of the San Diego River Double Track project, which will add 0.9 miles of double track and result in a continuous 7-mile double track segment along the LOSSAN corridor.
During the rail closure, construction activities also are planned for the Mid-Coast Trolley project, which will extend UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley service from the Santa Fe Depot in Downtown San Diego north to the University community.
The upcoming full rail closure is a routinely scheduled closure to advance rail construction and ensure worker safety.
The rail closure will affect four rail services operating on the San Diego segment of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) coastal rail corridor: North County Transit District (NCTD), Metrolink, Amtrak, and the freight carrier BNSF.
Regular passenger rail service is scheduled to resume at 5 a.m. for the morning commute on Monday, February 24. Riders are encouraged to allow for more travel time as trains could be delayed in arriving at the destination.
The following work will be done during the closure:
In San Diego, at the San Diego River Bridge near Friars Road, crews will remove Control Point (CP) Friars and continue ongoing bridge and track construction activities for the San Diego River Double Track project. Following the weekend closure, the $93.9 million project is anticipated to be completed, which will add 0.9 miles of double track across the river to connect existing double track at each end. Completion of the project will result in a continuous 7-mile double track segment in the southernmost portion of the LOSSAN corridor. View the project map.
Ongoing construction activities also are planned throughout the Mid-Coast corridor. Crews will construct retaining walls, remove temporary asphalt track crossings, install fencing, and construct bridge approach slabs. The Mid-Coast Trolley project is anticipated to be complete by late 2021. View the project map.
In Oceanside, crews will install and test new fiber optic cable at the Oceanside Transit Center. The project consists of creating redundancy within the fiber sharing network agreement between all agencies (MTS, NCTD, Caltrans, and SANDAG) reducing the chances for network outages, and create better networking capacity through all systems within the San Diego region.
During all construction, nearby residents and businesses can expect intermittent noise and lights. Please visit GoNCTD.com, Amtrak.com, or MetrolinkTrains.com for alternate route schedules.
About SANDAG
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is the San Diego region’s primary public planning, transportation, and research agency, providing the public forum for regional policy decisions about growth, transportation planning and construction, environmental management, housing, open space, energy, public safety, and binational topics. SANDAG is governed by a Board of Directors composed of mayors, council members, and supervisors from each of the region’s 18 cities and the county government.
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