After months of study, SANDAG presented possible ways to untangle a traffic snarl at one of the La Mesa’s busiest intersections — Spring Street and La Mesa Boulevard — but without a path to implement those expensive solutions.
The proposed solutions, which include elevating trolley tracks or moving them underground, are three to four times La Mesa’s annual budget. The city council won’t implement those ideas any time soon.
“We’ll let our great-grandchildren know about this,” said Mayor Mark Arapostathis, to chuckles from those on the dias and in the crowd.
The city council initially requested SANDAG’s help years ago to study options to alleviate traffic and improve safety where the trolley crosses streets while running parallel to Spring Street.
Alternative 1: Aerial guideway (Slide courtesy SANDAG)Alternative 2: Trenched trolley tracks. (Slide courtesy SANDAG)Alternative 3: A shortened guideway. (Slide courtesy SANDAG)At some point, SANDAG will increase Orange Line service frequency. Although there is no current plan for service changes, trolleys coming every seven-and-a-half minutes would worsen traffic, SANDAG senior regional planner Cecily Taylor said.
City staff partnered with SANDAG to explore solutions using a $500,000 Caltrans grant. Taylor presented the study results at a city council meeting on Tuesday, July 28.
In general, the three main solutions so trolleys and vehicles no longer clash would be to elevate the trolley, lower the street below the trolley, or entrench the trolley.
SANDAG did not study lowering the street due to its impact on the village shops in the retail district. Lowering the trolley was not much better, as it cost the most at $740,900,000, and had the longest and most complex construction process.
Business owners and residents reacted most positively to the elevated trolley.
It wasn’t universally lauded, with council member Laura Lothian concerned about the industrial look of the tracks.
“I don’t care if you draw flowers on it. It’s never going to look village-y,” Lothian said.
A rendering of an aerial guideway along Spring Street. (Image courtesy SANDAG)“There’s no doubt this is a visually prominent structure,” Taylor said.
Taylor offered that plazas, cafes, small businesses, landscaping and art could sit below the tracks.
It had other drawbacks, like wheel sounds carrying farther in the village, even if gate arms and trolley horns would no longer cause noise pollution.
Plus, it’s still over half a billion dollars to build. Then it would require upkeep costs for elevators and security.
But it could be the most practical build since La Mesa sits over a spring that would complicate underground efforts.
“There’s a lot more detailed cost-benefit analysis that I think should be done,” Taylor said. “A lot more work to be done to move any of these ideas forward.”
In addition to the favored elevated trolley, SANDAG proposed a shortened version of an aerial guideway where instead of the trolley passing over all five streets along Spring Street, an arching bridge would just pass over Lemon Avenue and La Mesa Boulevard, so the busiest intersection would have relief.
That intermediate solution did not save significant money though, with estimated costs at $428,700,000.
Crossing gates open for cars at La Mesa Boulevard trolley stop. (Photo by Calista Stocker/Times of San Diego)SANDAG also looked at some near-term improvements, not full solutions, that would be cheaper and faster to implement, like coordinating signals, building better sidewalks, or even a pedestrian and bike bridge across Spring Street. $13,000,000 could slightly improve the roadway.
Despite initially requesting the study, the city council was in no rush to implement the solutions the study found. However, Vice Mayor Lauren Cazares noted the study meant the city could move quickly if grants ever do emerge.
“It’s great that we’re looking into options,” she said. “That being said, with that price tag, obviously, it’s not something we’re going to be moving on right this second.”
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