Category Archives: San Diego

History, Mass Transit, North Park, Railroads, Roads, San Diego, San Diego County, San Diego Electric Railway, Streetcar

San Diego Electric Railway Exposed in North Park

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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.
Caltrans, District 11, Highways, I-15, I-5, I-805, Image, Roads, San Diego, San Diego County

Featured Image – 6/24/2021

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West Lilac Road OC over I-15 – only a few of these arches exist in California.

San Diego has a somewhat unique distinction compared to other California cities. You cannot travel north from San Diego, by freeway, without going underneath an arch bridge. I-5 has one at Gilman Dr, I-805 at Eastgate Mall. I-15 has the one pictured near Pala with West Lilac Road crossing over. Now I-8 needs one, somewhere to make it complete.

History, Image, Mission Valley, San Diego, San Diego County

Featured Image – 12/20/2020

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Postcard view of Mission Valley from around I-805 looking easterly

I acquired this postcard recently and wanted to share. It depicts Mission Valley in San Diego. While the exact date is unknown, it is likely from the early 1920’s. So much has changed in this view. It appears to be near I-805 at the south side of the valley and is looking east toward Mission Trails Regional Park. The stadium would be just outside the view to the left. The road along the bottom of the postcard roughly follows Camino Del Rio, which was the predecessor to US 80 / I-8 in the valley.

Highways, History, Middletown, Old Alignment, Roads, San Diego, San Diego County, US 101

Old US 101 in San Diego

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A reader, Mike Evans, recently contacted me regarding curb stamps along old US 101 near Middletown in San Diego. He found something which, to be honest, is most surprising. The City of San Diego had the practice of stamping the street name on the curb near intersections. As these intersections get upgraded with ADA compliant ramps, some of these stamps get lost. This one, however, was still there by virtue of a quirk of fate. Along Pacific Highway, between Palm St and Sassafras St, there is a stamp for “Atlantic St”. This stamp is mid-block, which seems odd at first as this isn’t where they are normally stamped. In this case, the stamp was retained but the intersection wasn’t. At some point, a short section of Quince St intersected Pacific Highway. As this only ran a short distance and was cut off by the railroad tracks, it was fairly easy to abandon and vacate. So, after the city did that, the intersection was erased, but the curb with the name remained.

I was surprised the stamp even existed, as I was under the impression that it would have been obliterated when Pacific Highway was widened in the 1940’s. I do wish to thank Mike Evans for finding this as it is a unique part of San Diego history that wasn’t easy to find. All photos are courtesy of Mike Evans. Additional photos show US 101 between Downtown and just north of Old Town.

Advocacy, Bicycling, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, San Diego, San Diego County

San Diego Slow Streets

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Many cities throughout the US have implemented a “slow streets” program to help make it easier for people to get out and exercise during this crisis. In San Diego, this has taken on the form of a “light” closure of some roadways. This means that the roadways aren’t closed entirely to motor vehicles, but through traffic is discouraged by the use of signs and barricades at various intersections. In doing so, bicyclists and pedestrians are given more room on the street.

I strongly encourage everyone to check these out in your city. If you think the program should be expanded, let them know! I know the ones here in San Diego have been helpful. We’d love to hear your thoughts as well.

For the City of San Diego:

https://www.sandiego.gov/tsw/programs/slow-streets-program

For the City of Los Angeles:

http://ladot.lacity.org/coronavirus/apply-slow-street-your-neighborhood