DATE: January 22, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Public Works Department
TITLE: APPROVAL OF THE CITY OF OCEANSIDE FEASIBILITY STUDY TO WIDEN AND IMPROVE THE COASTAL RAIL TRAIL FROM MORSE STREET TO THE OCEANSIDE/CARLSBAD CITY BORDER
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council approve the recommendations of the Coastal Rail Trail Feasibility Study.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
The Coastal Rail Trail is a planned continuous 44-mile-long multi-use trail that, once completed, will connect the City of Oceanside to downtown San Diego. In 2003, the City completed a 0.55-mile segment of the Coastal Rail Trail from Morse Street to Vista Way. In 2014, the City, in coordination with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), completed a 0.4-mile-long segment between Oceanside Boulevard and Wisconsin Avenue, creating a continuous 0.8-mile-long segment from the Oceanside Transit Center to Wisconsin Avenue. Once all segments within Oceanside are constructed, the Coastal Rail Trail will be a two-plus mile trail from the Oceanside Transit Center to the Oceanside/Carlsbad city border.
Design standards have changed since the earlier trail segment from Morse to Vista Way was constructed in 2003, and a Caltrans grant award was accepted and approved by the City Council on June 22, 2022 to update that segment of the trail. The Caltrans grant, in the amount of $300,000, was awarded for the review and recommendation of a trail design similar to the portions of the trail to the north of Wisconsin Avenue.
The Feasibility Study focuses on improving the existing Coastal Rail Trail from Buccaneer Park/Morse Street to the southerly City limits on Coast Highway. In addition to the mainline Coastal Rail Trail, the study also included creating a pedestrian path to provide access from Morse Street, east of the rail line, to Buccaneer Beach Park. The study investigated alternative trail alignments and evaluated them through analysis and ...
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