Work Begins On Poinsettia Station Improvements Project

CARLSBAD–The San Diego Association of Governments, Caltrans District 11, and North County Transit District (NCTD) began construction on nearly $34 million of improvements to the Poinsettia Coaster Station in Carlsbad as part of the North Coast Corridor (NCC) Program.

“Improvements to this station are critical to the overall goal of the North Coast Corridor: creating a better environment for the future,” said SANDAG Chair and Del Mar City Councilmember Terry Sinnott. “The Poinsettia Station Improvements Project is another good example of how we can leverage TransNet dollars with state and federal funds to advance major transportation and environmental enhancement projects in the San Diego region.”

The project will renovate the Poinsettia Station to improve the customer experience by providing easier access, reducing train delays, enhancing pedestrian safety, and upgrading station amenities, including new lighting, signage, and shelters. The project also will include lengthening and elevating passenger platforms, installing a fence between the tracks, relocating existing tracks, and building a pedestrian and bicycle grade-separated undercrossing between platforms.

When completed in 2020, the improved Poinsettia Station platforms will be elevated and lengthened to 1,000 feet. The lengthened platforms will accommodate longer trains, which will be able to serve increased numbers of passengers. The new pedestrian undercrossing will feature stairways and ramps on both sides of the tracks, which will allow safe passage to other platforms, and also will allow passing trains to move through the station when other trains are boarding, reducing train idling outside the station and improving regional transit service.

This project is part of a larger vision under the NCC Program to improve the San Diego segment of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) coastal rail corridor running through six cities within San Diego County.

Nearly $1 billion of improvements are planned along the 60-mile San Diego segment of the LOSSAN corridor over the next 20 years as part of the NCC Program. These improvements include double-tracking the San Diego segment of the LOSSAN rail line, replacing aging rail bridges, installing new safety equipment, adding new stations and platforms, incorporating new grade separations for safe and legal crossings, and working with project partners to establish future Quiet Zones.

“The North Coast Corridor Program is unique, taking a balanced approach in planning for our region’s future transportation needs,” said Caltrans Interstate 5 Corridor Director Allan Kosup. “The program will improve highway and rail systems, with more than 20 projects completed, planned, or under construction along our rail system alone. These investments will be leveraged with the more than $160 million recently awarded to the region, as a result of Senate Bill 1, for the broader NCC Program.”

To date, the NCC Program has been awarded more than $160 million as a result of SB 1, the recently-passed California Gas Tax. The California Transportation Commission is expected to decide on an additional $195 million in SB 1 funds for the NCC Program at its meeting in May.

The $33.7 million project is funded through federal, state, and local funds, including the regional TransNet half-cent sales tax for transportation administered by SANDAG. Funding for Poinsettia Station contains more than $4 million awarded by the California State Transportation Agency, or CalSTA, in state Cap-and-Trade Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program dollars.

During construction, customers, nearby residents, and businesses can expect intermittent construction noise and dust within the work area. The Poinsettia Station will remain open for service throughout construction, except for select weekends when all rail service is suspended for critical improvements to the LOSSAN rail corridor.