Public input sought on Del Mar rail realignment options, including remaining in place

The trains that run from San Diego to Los Angeles carry passengers along crumbling bluffs in Del Mar.

Now, SANDAG wants to know what the public thinks about the options that would make the railway safer.

“There’s no winner in all of this, just a series of pros and cons,” Keith Greer, a deputy director with SANDAG, told NBC 7 on Friday.

It’s the reality of a massive, multi-billion-dollar LOSSAN Rain Alignment project in northern San Diego County.

“The specific area in San Diego that we’re talking about runs along the bluffs in Del Mar, and you probably know that those bluffs have had a lot of landslides in the past and there’s been a lot of emergency repairs,” Greer said.

Last June, the agency sent out a Notice in Preparation, which brought in the chance for the public to weigh in on the project.

”We got over 1,500 comments on just what the public wanted to see,” Greer said.

From the hundreds of comments, the agency drafted four possible railway alternatives, which were then presented to the SANDAG board.

“So today we sent out another notice that invites the public to comment on those four possible solutions,” Greer said.

The proposed alternative routes would move the railway to the following areas:

1. Under Camino Del Mar
2. From the San Dieguito Bridge to the I-5
3. Under Crest Canyon

The fourth option: Keeping the railway along the Del Mar Bluffs.

“No matter where it goes, it’s going to impact somebody,” Linda Andrews told NBC 7.

Some locals like Andrews, who has worked in Del Mar for years, believe the railway needs to move away from the bluffs.

”It’s always been an issue, but now, because of the bluff eroding away, it’s getting to be a dangerous issue,” Andrews said.

At NBC 7's prompting, Andrews shared her thoughts on the alternative options, particularly the proposed route along the I-5.

”Yes, that would impact me, but not that much, so I wouldn’t be that concerned about it," Andrews said. "But the issue I see is: Where do you get off? You need stations all along the 5, and I see that 5 freeway every day. It is so jam-packed."

In the meantime, Greer said, over the next 30 months, the agency will continue to work on an environmental impact report, and they’re just starting that step.

“So the next 12-18 months, we have to do a bunch of technical analysis: geology, biology, archeology, and that gets summarized into a draft EIR [environmental impact report',” Greer said. “Taking about 30 months from now, which we submit to the public for their review again, and then finally along the way we’ll be doing engineering design drawings and bringing them up to a level we call 30% but it’s more details, so that’s what’s happening in the next 30 months here.”

SANDAG has invited the public to participate in its public comment period, which will last through the end of next year. Community members can click here to submit or attend their a forum on May 29 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds from 6-7:30 p.m.