Ongoing roadwork in the North Park neighborhood in San Diego has exposed yet more streetcar tracks. This work is a part of a bikeway project which will add raised median islands and pedestrian signals to enhance safety along the route.
The tracks for the #2 San Diego Electric Railway line are temporarily exposed on 30th St at Landis St. Both sets of rails are at least partially exposed, with the southbound rails fully exposed and northbound with one side exposed. I doubt they will remain for very long.
Tracks exposed at Landis St on 30th St
Southbound tracks and one northbound rail exposed
Information on the roadwork from the City of San Diego and SANDAG:
Landis Street and 30th Street: Crews will implement traffic control and begin demolition activities to construct median islands, curb extensions, curb ramps, and pedestrian improvements (including installing Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons or “RRFBs”) at the intersection.
The City of San Diego has a project underway known as the University Avenue Mobility Project. This will add a median to University Ave from Florida St to Boundary St and a transit lane in both directions. This work, which has begun in earnest in the past few weeks, has exposed more of the San Diego Electric Railway #7 car line. The last time these tracks saw revenue service was on April 23, 1949 and have been buried under asphalt since.
Construction projects such as these allow a brief glimpse into San Diego’s past, in this case exposing hundreds of feet of intact railway tracks. At the time of this writing, the exposed tracks run from Idaho St to near Grim Ave along University Ave. Between Idaho St and Utah St, you can see get a unique view looking between two sets of tracks, where the remainder exposed is just one direction.
Who knows? Maybe the future of University Ave will see these tracks torn up and replaced with newer rails? Los Angeles did that along 1st for the Metro L Line back in the early 2000’s. It could happen here.
Looking west from Utah St on University Ave. Here, the middle of a section of double-track can be seen during roadway construction. Additional rails are still buried beneath the pavement.
Looking east from Kansas St on University Ave. These were the former westbound tracks.
Further east on University Ave at Ohio St looking at the former westbound tracks.
Walking today, I saw that the former San Diego Electric Railway tracks in the median of Park Blvd seem to be staying put. Construction is underway for a “busway” which is tearing out most of the old track and poles. However, at Howard Ave, the tracks are being left in place and reburied beneath the new median. Why this is the case here and not anywhere else is something of a mystery. Hopefully it marks a trend to keep some of the old infrastructure in place instead of destroying it.
Section of rail removed at Howard Ave.
South of Howard Ave to near Polk Ave, the old rails remain.
My day was going along fairly smoothly until after breakfast. I had bicycled over to Babbo Grande, to meet a couple of friends for breakfast. We stayed a while, talked, and eventually left around noon. I was going to head back home, but decided to extend the ride. I continued north on Park Blvd, into University Heights. It was fun, basically going slower and checking out the businesses. I found a few restaurants I’d heard about, and want to try sometime. When I got to Adams, I turned right. Now, this sort of ride, doesn’t have a real direction. I just start to wander and go wherever my next decision takes me, instead of going to a specific place. It was after I turned onto Adams that thing took a whole new direction.
Parked in the middle of the roadway, at Florida St, was an old truck and trailer, what was on the trailer was something quite extraordinary. It was a 1915 San Diego Electric Class 1 car, a streetcar. This street, Adams Avenue, hasn’t seen such a sight since 1949, though this car hasn’t been on the rails since 1939. I decided to follow it, see where they were taking it. Turns out, it was on a “publicity tour” of sorts. They drove west on Adams then south on Park. I figured, I was ready for to follow them anywhere, until a freeway. The truck was going quite slow, blowing their horn a few times to attract attention. It did. Lots of people were taking photos, traffic slowed both directions on all the roadways they took. I followed them on their little tour through Hillcrest, then back up to University Heights. After they finally stopped on Florida St at Adams Ave, I asked if they were going to be there a while. They said yes, good! I could go home and get my camera! So, I went home, got the camera, got back, and it was still there. I also got to speak with some of the people there, got a nice brochure on the project. Their project, San Diego Historic Streetcars, has a goal of running their cars, the last three of this type remaining, back on San Diego streets. I’d sure like to see that. Seeing it go down University Ave, sort of recreating the #11 car line, was pretty cool as it was. Having it run on its own doing the same thing would be much better.
This is what I saw on Adams Ave. Eye catching isn’t it?
San Diego Electric Railway logo
Side view, the “fencing” at the bottom is supposed to be there and is original.
A streetcar, with Trolley Barn Park in the background.
There is a lesson to be learned here, sometimes take it slow, and don’t just go home. Extend the bike ride, even if just a little. You never know what fun might be out there.
