U-T editorial: The trolley expands
Decision time at hand on link to UCSD and beyond
By UNION-TRIBUNE
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Something the UCSD and University City communities have been promised for 20 years is much closer to reality: a trolley link to the rest of the metropolitan area.
Half of the $1.2 billion cost is in hand, most of the right of way is publicly owned and solid consensus, perhaps even unanimity, has developed for a preferred route.
Transportation planners have winnowed to three the possible routes for an 11-mile trolley extension from Old Town to UCSD and University Town Center. The three parallel Interstate 5 north from Old Town to about Gilman Drive. Each then takes a different route to the campus and to UTC.
Alternative 1, the overwhelming favorite, heads the farthest north and provides a second UCSD station and better access to the area’s hospitals. It avoids expensive tunneling and environmentally sensitive canyons.
July will be a propitious month of possible approvals for the line. Thanks to a voter-approved half-cent sales tax, the Metropolitan Transit System and San Diego Association of Governments have $600 million available to build the extension. What are needed now are approvals of the specific route and a favorable position in line for federal grant money.
Officials, including Paul Jablonski of MTS, Gary Gallegos of SANDAG and county Supervisor Ron Roberts, are hopeful. As lobbying points, they cite that half of the money is local, most right of way is publicly owned and system successes include an average rate of 60 percent of the operating costs recovered from fares. Previous system extensions have found high ridership demand. Linking San Diego State University to the trolley system has resulted in 10,000 riders a day and less need for costly parking structures.
Planners are pushing for an extensive rail skeleton for the regional transit system. It is much more efficient to carry riders by train than by bus. And bus routes can be aligned to feed into the rail network.
Construction of the new line could take three years. A fall 2015 opening is possible if approvals and federal money come in timely fashion. The wait might be reduced a year, Gallegos believes, with some pre-engineering and design/build collaboration.
The value to the San Diego region would be enormous. Commuters from the largely bedroom communities of the South Bay could have direct access to the employment-rich UCSD campus and environs. Students would be less isolated. Nighttime cultural events on campus would be available to the outside world without the hassles of parking.
More than that, the line would relieve congestion on Interstate 5, particularly in peak drive times.
To get a feel for the difference the line could make, try to enter Interstate 5 south from Genesee Avenue, Try it, say, between 4 and 5 on a Friday afternoon and see how pleasant gridlock is. Imagine area commuters whizzing by on the trolley, all the way to Chula Vista, or transferring to an East County line.
The SANDAG Transportation Committee has scheduled an informational meeting on the proposed extension this Friday and a vote on July 16. The full SANDAG board is expected to vote July 23.
Opportunity is at hand. Seize it.
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