REGION — A series of major infrastructure projects throughout North San Diego County have been left without requested federal dollars after being excluded from a federal spending bill, with lawmakers concerned about risks to additional funding allocations.
To prevent a government shutdown following disagreements about budget appropriations, Congress agreed in March to pass a continuing resolution to keep basic government functions up and running through September. As a result, all Community Project Funding requests to the House Committee on Appropriations were scrapped for the 2026 fiscal year.
Rep. Mike Levin (D-Laguna Niguel), appointed to the appropriations committee in January, submitted funding requests for 15 projects — nine in North San Diego County, totaling $24.5 million, and six in Orange County, totaling $21.2 million.
While Levin was looking forward to continuing to raise money for critical improvements in the 49th Congressional District, none of these projects received funding in the budget passed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
“None of them will be funded, at least not immediately,” Levin said. “We’re really in unprecedented times right now where we’ve got a very volatile, unpredictable situation, and I wish we didn’t.”
Community Project Funding requests that missed out on funding this year in San Diego County include:
- $1.3 million for Carlsbad Village Railroad Double Track Trenching, which seeks to lower and double-track a segment of the railroad passing through Carlsbad Village, to complete the preliminary design and environmental review phase
- $1.75 million for the Center of Excellence in Marine Aquaculture in Carlsbad, to reorganize and upgrade the Leon Raymond Hubbard, Jr. Marine Fish Hatchery
- $1.45 million for Riverpath Del Mar Phase 3 to complete the last section of the city’s Scenic Loop Trail
- $2.4 million for North Coast Highway 101 drainage improvements in Encinitas, including extending a 60-inch storm drain further south to alleviate flooding risks in Leucadia
- $4 million for the Lomas Santa Fe Drive project in Solana Beach, to complete multi-modal access improvements for the western portion of the project
- $4.25 million for Emerald Drive Complete Streets in Vista to reduce vehicle speeds on the high-traffic road, install traffic calming measures like roundabouts, and add biking and walking facilities with safe pedestrian crossings.
- $4 million for the Pier View Way Bridge reconstruction in Oceanside to address deteriorating structure, ensure compliance with updated earthquake design standards, and protect pedestrian and vehicular accessibility and traffic.
- $2.15 million for San Diego County Shoreline study in Oceanside to explore mitigation for erosion and other impacts from the construction of Camp Pendleton Harbor and investigate restoring the beach to previous conditions.
- $3.25 million for Buena Vista Lagoon Enhancement in Oceanside to address increased sedimentation, invasive vegetation, declining coastal biodiversity, degrading water quality, water circulation restrictions, and vector concerns. The funding would allow 65% design completion for the project.
In Orange County, one scrapped request was for $10 million to repair the Mariposa Bridge and Trail in San Clemente following damage from landslides last year. The pedestrian bridge above the LOSSAN rail tracks has been closed since early 2024.
While this funding setback will delay progress on these projects, Levin said he is committed to resubmitting them for review in the next year. Since he took office in 2019, he has secured over $1 billion in federal funding for projects in San Diego and Orange counties.
“We’ll resubmit most of them to the extent that we can,” Levin said.
The congressman said he is also concerned about projects that have already been allocated funding but have yet to break ground, noting that the Trump administration has targeted various forms of funding to states, withholding it as a means of retaliation.
In the past couple of months, the Department of Transportation has announced an investigation into California’s high-speed rail project and the possibility of pulling $4 billion in federal funding for it. The Environmental Protection Agency is also challenging clean transportation waivers granted to California by the Biden administration.
Outside of transportation, the Trump administration cut hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic relief grants for K-12 schools in California and several other states earlier this week, leading California Attorney General Rob Bonta to sue the U.S. Department of Education.
Levin said he is keeping a close eye on projects that were recently allocated federal funding, such as the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Coastal Rail Infrastructure Resiliency Project that received $100 million in October, and the San Dieguito Double Track, Rail Bridge and Special Events Platform Project, which received $53 million in early 2024.
“The key there is making sure we get through the current planning process, and getting shovels in the ground as soon as we can,” Levin said. “For coastal infrastructure projects, this is all money we’ve gotten through the appropriations process that we hope is not the focus of political retribution.”
Democratic leaders are also concerned about the impact on transportation projects as the federal government’s priorities shift away from focusing on climate change and equity.
For coastal rail projects such as the planned relocation of the tracks on the Del Mar Bluffs, climate change impacts, such as erosion and rising sea levels, play a massive role in the need for improvements. While this shouldn’t be a partisan issue, said state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), applications for federal money may need to focus more on the benefits to commerce and the military to be successful.
“It’s not clear exactly what will end up happening with the pursuit of grants regarding the rail line, but there will be a prioritization of grants for different values,” Blakespear said.
SANDAG, which is leading the San Dieguito Bridge project and many other transportation projects, is also facing uncertainty. At a March 28 meeting regarding the 2026 budget, leaders said they are carefully monitoring transportation projects that have yet to execute a funding agreement.
“Given that 30% of the budget is funded with the federal funding, we are concerned that certain federal funding is at risk, and could eliminate or delay our projects,” said Susan Huntington, SANDAG director of financial planning, budgets and grants.
