SANDAG allocates $5,497,000 for San Onofre to Pulgas double tracking

The San Diego Association of Governments allocated an additional $5,497,000 for the project to provide a double track railroad corridor between the San Onofre and Pulgas control points.

The SANDAG board voted 19-0 March 26 to accept and allocate $106,405,000 of Trade Corridor Enhancement Program funding provided by the California Transportation Commission. The allocations include $567,000 for the design and $4,930,000 for the construction of Phase 2 of the double tracking project, and an additional $1,000,000 was allocated for the relocation of the control point by the inactive San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

The Trade Corridor Enhancement Program provides funding for infrastructure improvements to corridors of national or regional significance. In 2017, the state legislature passed the Road Repair and Accountability Act, which raised the gas tax by 12 cents per gallon while raising annual vehicle registration fees from $25 to $175 based on vehicle value, and approximately $300 million from that source is provided annually for the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program. Additional annual funding of approximately $315 million is provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Freight Program.

The Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo corridor is used by Amtrak and by the North County Transit District's Coaster commuter rail line as well as by railroad freight carriers. The North County Transit District, whose long-term plans include extending Coaster service to Camp Pendleton and to the Gaslamp area of Downtown San Diego which includes the San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park, will be the implementing agency for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station control point relocation and also for the double tracking between the Santa Fe Depot and the Gaslamp area which was allocated $33,180,000 March 26 (the Gaslamp stop will be between First Street and Fifth Street off of Harbor Drive and thus by the convention center).

SANDAG will be the implementing agency for the San Onofre to Pulgas double tracking as well as for the San Dieguito double tracking and the Del Mar Bluffs project which were allocated the rest of the $106,405,000.

The additional allocations for the San Onofre to Pulgas double tracking project create total funding of $35.537 million for Phase 2, which will cover the segment between Milepost 216.5 and Milepost 218.1. That project is currently in the final design phase. Phase 1 provided double tracking between Milepost 213.3 and Milepost 216.5 and became open to railroad traffic in 2015. The Trade Corridor Enhancement Program funding complements $28.863 million of State Transportation Improvement Program money already earmarked for the project.

The $35.537 million for Phase 2 includes $169,000 spent prior to the start of Fiscal Year 2020-21. The fiscal year 2020-21 expenditure of $220,000 allows $60,000 for administration and $160,000 for design. The $2,048,000 expected to be spent during fiscal year 2021-22 will cover $85,000 for administration, $13,000 for legal services, $13,000 for communications expenses, $692,000 for design, $50,000 for right-of-way support, $133,000 for right-of-way support, $1,009,000 for construction, and $199,000 for contingency.

The 2022-23 planned expenditures of $11,995,000 are comprised of $100,000 for administration, $10,000 for legal services, $10,000 for communications, $50,000 for right-of-way support, $1,450,000 for construction support, $10,000,000 for construction capital, and $375,000 for contingency.

During 2023-24 SANDAG expects the $12,966,000 cost to consist of $150,000 for administration, $13,000 for legal services, $13,000 for communications, $10,000 for right-of-way support, $3,850,000 for construction support, $8,550,000 for construction capital, and $285,000 for contingency.

The 2024-25 budget of $8,149,000 earmarks $87,000 for administration, $10,000 for legal services, $10,000 for communications, $2,976,000 for construction support, $4,866,000 for construction capital, and $200,000 for contingency.

The environmental documentation for the project also includes Phase 1 and was approved in 2012. Phase 2 is expected to be advertised for bid in July 2021, and construction is expected to start in January 2022. SANDAG expects Phase 2 to be open to railroad traffic in May 2024 with final construction tasks completed in November 2024. The activity will also include signal work from the intermediate signal at Milepost 214.1 to Milepost 220.1.

The SONGS control point is at Milepost 209.2. The equipment for the train control handoff will be moved to a new control point location just south of San Mateo Creek.