By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA–San Diego county city leaders joined Mid-Coast Trolley construction crews to celebrate a project milestone for the rail extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley in La Jolla.
San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) members, including Second Vice-Chair and National City Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis attended the celebration that was held July 22 at the UTC Transit Center Parking Structure.
Crews were treated to a luncheon ahead of the structure’s “topping out,” which is scheduled for Friday morning. The topping out of a structure is when the final deck is poured, and the structure reaches its highest vertical point.
The parking facility will support the future Mid-Coast extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley, which is set to start service later this year, by providing direct access to the UTC Transit Center and UTC Trolley Station. The structure will be a shared facility for MTS transit riders and Westfield UTC patrons, with 333 spaces dedicated for transit riders and 139 spaces for retail users.
“Today’s milestone demonstrates SANDAG’s commitment to delivering projects on-time and on-budget,” said SANDAG Second Vice Chair Sotelo-Solis. “The Mid-Coast Corridor is the San Diego region’s largest infrastructure project ever and today we celebrate the dedicated workforce who continued their work throughout the pandemic to safely make it a reality for millions in the years to come.”
When complete, the UTC parking structure will stand at 38’3” tall with four parking levels. It took 6,500 cubic yards of concrete to construct the structure. Along with the parking spaces for mall patrons and transit riders, the structure will feature a bicycle parking facility with space for 40 bikes, electric vehicle charging stations, and photovoltaic panels at roof level to power the parking structure.
The $22.6 million UTC parking structure project broke ground in January and is scheduled to be completed later this year in December.
The $2.1 billion Mid-Coast extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley began construction in 2016 and is the largest infrastructure project in the region’s history. SANDAG’s investment in transportation infrastructure, such as the Mid-Coast Trolley project, continues to bring high-quality jobs to the region for a skilled workforce while providing new transit and transportation opportunities for San Diegans.
Completion of the Mid-Coast extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley is a significant step toward realizing the Vision for SANDAG’s 2021 Regional Plan to focus on addressing traffic congestion, social equity, and state and federal mandates to create a balanced transportation system. The result is a transportation system that is faster, fairer, and cleaner.
