Carlsbad, Calif., double-tracking project to begin in June

Starting in mid-June, contractors will add a second set of tracks to a 2-mile stretch of the coastal railway through Carlsbad, Calif., the North County Times reports. Having a double set of tracks will provide new passing points for trains and reduce delays for both local Coaster commuter trains and Amtrak long-distance trains, John Eschenbach, senior project manager for Amtrak, said.

"This particular
project will increase on-time performance and reliability," he said.

Most of the project’s
$16-million price tag is being paid for by Amtrak, but the state Department of
Transportation contributed $1 million for design work, Eschenbach said.

Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner
runs 24 trains a day along the coastal railway corridor and the Coaster line
has 22 daily trains. There also is regular freight train service along the
route during the nighttime hours.

While the extra row of
tracks may improve existing train service, the number of trains using the route
will not increase because of this project, officials have said. That’s because
the new "double-tracked" area in Carlsbad will cover just a small
portion of the regional coastal railway corridor. The full route between San
Diego and the northern border of the county is 60 miles. Even after the
conclusion of the Carlsbad project, just slightly more than 50 percent of that
60-mile route will have two sets of track, Eschenbach said.

The new double-tracking
project will start just south of Carlsbad Village Drive and extend well beyond
the railroad bridge over Agua Hedionda Lagoon. The 18-month construction
project also will include the installation of a second railroad bridge across
the lagoon. Both the public railroad crossings at Tamarack Avenue and Cannon
Road will be upgraded with new warning devices. A private crossing point within
the Encina Power Station property also will see some improvements, plans
indicate.

Regional transportation
planners have recently said that they want to have the full 60-mile coastal
rail route in San Diego County double-tracked by 2030, adding that would allow
up to 119 trains a day to use the route. However, they have had trouble finding
funds for such a huge undertaking.

In addition to financing
issues, some of the double-tracking proposals have faced stiff opposition from
nearby homeowners. Residents in the Del Mar area, in particular, have been in
conflict over proposed changes, which could include new bridges over the San
Dieguito River and even tunneling under Del Mar.

In Carlsbad, double-tracking
hasn’t been a great source of contention. The City Council’s legislative
platform- a document that spells out the stances city officials expect to take
on issues ranging from regional transportation concerns to labor relations
topics-says that city officials will "encourage and support double
tracking of the rail corridor within the city limits."

When it comes to the rail
line, Carlsbad residents have mostly complained about train horn noise over the
years. When the new double-tracking plans were presented at a City Council
workshop in April, council members focused on the noise issue. Councilman Mark
Packard asked whether the new double-tracking project would allow for the
creation of so-called "quiet zones" where train horns can be
silenced.

Under federal guidelines,
train engineers must sound their horns 15 to 20 seconds before entering an
at-grade railroad crossing. There are four of these in Carlsbad: Cannon Road,
Tamarack Avenue, Carlsbad Village Drive and Grand Avenue. Federal regulators
have informed cities that they can silence the train horns if they make
extensive improvements to the crossing points and if they obtain additional
liability insurance.

Eschenbach said the
double-tracking construction work would include the installation of conduit at
the Cannon Road and Tamarack Avenue crossing points so that new quiet-zone
technology could be added at a later point.

"You can move
forward with the quiet zone work without having to tear up the intersection
again," he said.

However, he said, the
double-tracking project does not include funding for anything more than the
conduit. Installing the quiet-zone technology is estimated to cost $1 million
to $1.5 million per intersection.