All rail services from Oceanside to San Diego were shut down just after midnight through early Monday morning to accommodate scheduled work along the rail line, according to the San Diego Association of Governments.
The regional rail closure affects the North County Transit District, Metrolink, Amtrak and freight carrier BNSF and will be in effect from just after midnight Saturday through Monday at 5 a.m.
A subsequent closure, from Solana Beach to the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego, will occur from 5 a.m. Monday to 4 a.m. Tuesday to accommodate Del Mar Bluff repairs.
During the weekend closure, crews will do emergency repairs on the Del Mar Bluffs to stabilize an area south of Fourth Street that experienced a bluff collapse in late February, SANDAG officials said. Visitors are urged not to sit, stand or walk within 50 feet of the Del Mar Bluffs or the beach below.
Crews will install several support columns into the upper bluffs south of Fourth Street. The work includes drilling holes into the bluffs, placing steel beams, and filling the holes with concrete. Emergency stabilization repairs are expected to be complete by summer 2021.
Additional weekend rail closures between Solana Beach and downtown San Diego are scheduled for April 17-20, April 24-26 and May 1-3.
On Monday and April 19, due to the Del Mar Bluff repairs, the North County Transit District will operate a bus bridge between Solana Beach and Santa Fe Depot. Coaster service will continue between Oceanside and Solana Beach, but passengers traveling southbound past Solana Beach will travel via Breeze bus.
Crews will also perform project completion items and inspections along the southern portion of the Mid-Coast Trolley alignment. Crews will remove graffiti, inspect electrical boxes, perform asphalt paving and install drainage infrastructure, ballast rock, fencing and landscaping. The Mid-Coast Trolley project is expected to be completed in late 2021.
The trolley project will extend UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley service from the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego to the University area.
