ENCINITAS — Residents and local leaders joined in cutting the ribbon to celebrate the opening of the El Portal undercrossing in Old Encinitas over the weekend.
While elected officials addressed the audience, dozens of travelers squeezed through the Aug. 14 press conference — some noting their journey to the Leucadia Farmers Market on the east side of the crossing, others hauling towels heading west — of the highly-anticipated crossing.
“Encinitas used to be really well connected,” Planning Commission Chair Kevin Doyle said. “This is going to change everything. So many people have carried the ball so far for so long.”
Speakers included Mayor Catherine Blakespear, Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas), Doyle, former Paul Ecke Central School principal Adriana Chavarín-López and North County Transit District representative Corinna Contreras.
Each speaker at the weekend event congratulated the multi-agency effort to bring the new pedestrian and cyclist rail crossing near El Portal Street.
The project has a total price tag of $13.4 million and has been a community need for decades.
Planning for the El Portal underpass began in 2002 following a joint application between the city, NCTD, Caltrans, and SANDAG to the California Transportation Commission for the additional pedestrian rail crossings as “illegal trespassing of the rail corridor became increasingly pervasive,” according to city documents.
The need for safe crossings was further highlighted after school bus services were cut in 2003.
El Portal was identified as a grade-separated rail crossing during an intensive public outreach process. In 2005, it was identified as one of the city’s “highest unfunded active transportation priorities” during its Let’s Move, Encinitas safe walking routes initiative in 2005.
The project didn’t receive funding until 2015 with the California Active Transportation Program. The grant attempt failed the previous year but gained additional points following the completion of the past mobility plan in the city.
The El Portal underpass is representative of the city’s efforts to reconnect pedestrian accessibility following significant transportation changes in the 50s and 60s, Doyle told the audience. It is also representative of community impact.
Agencies in the region were backed by citizen support throughout the process.
Visibly emotional during the event, Boerner Horvath pulled a group of former PTA members of Paul Ecke Central Elementary School, who were part of a series of road safety improvements.
Boerner Horvath said it wasn’t a matter of if, but “it was when they were gonna get hurt.”
“All of these people came and dedicated their time to asking for community improvements to leave a legacy for future generations,” Boerner Horvath said, whose sixth grader was not enrolled at Paul Ecke at the time of Boerner Horvath’s initial involvement.
In October 2015, the El Portal was estimated at $5,395,000. The Active Transportation grant provided 87%, or about $4.7 million, of the total and included a $704,000 commitment from the city.
Then in 2020 — with an approved budget of nearly $11 million — SANDAG came back to the city with additional funding needed, bringing the total project cost to $13 386,456. (This amount includes pre-construction costs, public education and outreach.)
Granite Construction won the award with the lowest bid, not to exceed $7 million for the construction of the El Portal pedestrian rail undercrossing — higher than the initial engineer estimate of $5.2 million.
According to the city, funding did not impact city taxes, as it was primarily supported by monies from the General Fund that could be used for this project.
Granite was also awarded the Leucadia Streetscape Segment A construction, which was built in conjunction with El Portal. A Streetscape connection has been the council’s intention since at least 2013.
In October 2020, won the award for a first-phase Leucadia Streetscape project that included improvements between Marcheta Street and Basil Street for more than $6.4 million, not exceeding $7,373,675. In March of this year, the Encinitas City Council approved a $100,000 increase to fund contingency work, which included additional paving and green bike lanes.
This project was also completed this summer and was funded using General Funds, Transnet tax allocation, and a small amount of funding from Proposition 84, according to city staff.
As part of its planning, the city planned the project in connection with Streetscape to ensure access to beaches, schools, commercial areas, and residential neighborhoods was improved upon completing El Portal.
The city looks to wrap up its efforts to drop a lane in either direction and add a green bike lane on North Coast Highway 101 between Basil Street and La Costa Avenue.
The restriping project was funded using General Funds and an SB 1 road repair allocation.
Improvements Segment B, from Basil Street to Jupiter, are expected to cost approximately $20 million, and staff has not identified funding sources for the project. The city is working through its Streetscape phases as money becomes available for various work.
Segment C, the third phase of Streetscape between Jupiter Street and La Costa Avenue, will be advertised later this year, with constriction anticipated to begin in the spring.
In May, the city received a $20 million loan from California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, or IBank, for improvements from Jupiter Street to La Costa Avenue.
