This note just went out today [Nov 10] notifying a group of residents opposed to the Coastal Rail Trail that an Internet-based campaign is underway to stop it.
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
I emailed many of you more than a month ago to let you know that I was working on a website that will help give voice to the many folks in our community who are opposed to the Coastal Rail Trail as envisioned by three members of our Encinitas City Council. What I thought would take another week or two at that time is just now up and live. My apologies for the delay.
The website address is www.norailtrail.com. I urge you to notify others in our community who share our concerns about the Coastal Rail Trail by forwarding this email and/or the www.norailtrail.com site address. If we can each reach 10 people, and those recipients each reach 10 more, we will amplify our voice into the thousands. Most people in our community and the areas surrounding do not even know about the Coastal Rail Trail, and this is an easy way to spread the word.
The site is presently designed to inform the public about the Coastal Rail Trail, but its power comes from you and your friends, neighbors and contacts visiting the site and inputing your contact details into the fields on the site. Please be advised that by doing so, form letters will be sent in your name and with your address to the political actors involved in this project. The list of recipients is long -- all Encinitas City Council members, involved parties at SANDAG, all voting commissioners at the California Coastal Commission, and most of the editors of our local print news. Being on the receiving end of what I hope amounts to hundreds, if not thousands, of email letters from concerned citizens may get a bit annoying, but these individuals and institutions are here to serve the public, and we are the public most directly affected. We have a right to speak and be heard by our representatives.
Thank you in advance for lending your good name and contact details in helping correct a willful and wrong-headed policy by bureaucrats seeking to impose changes that fail to meet community needs and impose numerous negative impacts for the sake of a small but vocal few. There's a better way to achieve multi-modal transportation in our community that leaves a smaller footprint and doesn't alter the natural public land left along our coast, and the Coastal Rail Trail as envisioned is not the answer. Please use www.norailtrail.com to let our politicians know.
Best regards,
Joe A.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Grassroots campaign against the Coastal Rail Trail
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Who is Joe A. What does he do? Where does he live? How long has he lived here? Keep Cardiff kooky?
ReplyDeleteSounds like he's the kook. I've yet to decide how I feel about this but this website title makes me start to like this project.
Hi Anonymous. Ironic that you ask for personal information, but I'll tell you anyway. I'm a Cardiff resident living on San Elijo. I've owned property here since 2003 and have built a house here as well. I got to know the folks down at the building department through that lovely process. I've been a full time resident since 2009. Odd that you find an allusion to the Kook something out of place when it involves the goings on in Cardiff. Perhaps you're right ... I'm just a kook, or perhaps you don't live here.
DeleteNow kindly get off your butt, get off the fence, and go to www.norailtrail.com and sign up. The City Council is pretending that the 500+ people who have signed up don't count when they talk about serving the "residents," the "community," the "public good." We need more people, if for nothing else than to see what magic number constitutes the "public" in the eyes of our representatives.
Just as I suspected. A recent transplant stealing Leucadias mantra, using a symbol (the kook) in Cardiff that long time locals think is lame. I was born here, have a family business here and have lived here for 43 years. Enlist the help of someone who's been here for longer than 10 minutes who has some local credibility and you might have a chance.
DeleteA recent transplant? I've lived in and around the Encinitas/N County area for 41 years. I'll assume that when I reach 43 years here (and I'd better start a family business too) like you, I'll reach the same level of local maturity, composure and grace.
DeleteListen, I don't want you to sign up at www.norailtrail.com. Someone like you deserves the Three Stooges act at City Council who proclaim to be your nanny and let you know what's best for you. Based on your comments, perhaps that's what you need. Let the less cranky, serious adults keep our community the awesome place you'd just assume piss away.
This $5.1 million development (yes, it is a development) is part of the smart growth complete streets that the city must have to increase density in Encinitas. It started when Barth was on the council. The three destroyers of the city, council members Kranz, Shaffer, and Blakespear are determined to wipe every part of the city's history and environmental areas.
ReplyDeleteSome clarification of the numbers is in order. I received the numbers (read the questions/answers below) directly from the planner at SANDAG:
Delete-- Is there money currently appropriated for the Coastal Rail Trail project and, if so, how much is currently appropriated and available?
Yes, there is $6.1M.
-- Who or what organization has made available existing money for the project?
SANDAG and State of Calif. Active Transportation Program
-- What is the maximum amount of money available from the budget source(s) listed above for the project?
$6.1M
-- What is the estimated cost for the project as it is presently designed?
Approximately $8M. As we continue to work on the design elements, we’ll continue to work to contain costs within budget as much as possible.
-- Is there a cost target for the project?
We are striving to bring the project in within the approved budget of $6.1M.
-- Is there currently a shortfall of available budget for the project and, if so, how much?
It is around $2M, based on the approximate $8M projected cost, but since we'll be working to contain costs as we move forward, this is unknown.
-- If a shortfall of budget exists, where are the additional funds expected to come from?
If it is determined at some point that additional funding would be needed to complete the project, a strategy will be formulated at that time.
NCTD, which is part of SANDAG, may have an easement problem. For years people have crossed the tracks to get to highway 101 and the beach. NCTD wants to fence off the tracks in Encinitas where the public has an implied easement to cross those tracks.
ReplyDeleteCouncilman Kranz was/is the city representative on NCTD. Why isnn't he fighting to prevent the fencing off of public access. These questions haven't been answered by Councilman Kranz -
Why is NCTD suddenly concerned with people crossing the tracks in Encinitas?
Will the tracks controlled by NCTD be fenced off from Orange county to the Mexican border? If not, why not?
SANDAG is rushing to complete the Encinitas plans for the fencing with this $5.1 million development. Why? What is so important about widening a small two lane street that serves as local access into a major corridor?
The fencing is a fait accompli. They will definitely fence off the whole corridor, a la Solana Beach when the double tracking and trenching take place in the next 20 years.
DeleteNCTD has always wanted to fence off the corridor. Matt Tucker, the head of the agency, feels he looks bad everytime there's an accident on the line.
You want change along the corridor and at NCTD? Tell Kranz and the rest of the elected representatives to not renew Tucker's Contract in December.
Do a little research, and find out about the shenanigans that have gone on at NCTD for years. This includes your tax dollars, which should interest the "I Hate Taxes" element on this blog.
-Former NCTD
The fence situation was literally caused by Catherine Blakespear; period.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when the Advocate quoted her praising NCTD on the fencing a month ago.
I wish we could give all the credit for the Cardiff Fence to Councilwoman Blakespear, but Shaffer and Kranz deserve equal credit. Kranz, in particular, with his liaison position with NCTD, should get honorable mention. Ms. Shaffer is protecting the fence initiative like the Chinese activist standing in the way of a moving tank in Tiananmen Square uprising.
DeleteIf you want change at NCTD, call and email Kranz and tell him not to renew Tucker's Contract..
Delete-Former NCTD
"where the public has an implied easement to cross those tracks. "
ReplyDeleteThere's no implication one may cross the tracks at all. In fact, there are No Trespassing signs posted along the railroad for the entire length of Encinitas and you'll get a big ticket if you're caught crossing the tracks in undesignated areas. Tony will tell you the same thing cause it's true. He's be outstanding at working with NCTD with various issues and the only councilmember to have physically driven the head honcho of NCTD through town to address our concerns - contrary to Stocks who cared less about what adjacent neighbors desire. The revamped crossing at Leucadia Blvd / 101 is a perfect example. Stocks best idea was replacing the orange sandbags that were so ugly there for years with cheap railroad ties to divert water (which would have been better than orange bags of course, but he addressed no other improvements that were later realized: new sidewalks, ADA compliance, beautifully maintained landscaping, better drainage, more permeable surfaces, classic streetlamp poles - and the added benefit of embellishing Leucadia Roadside Park with matching treatments.)
The fencing that will occur on NCTD right of way will be the natural wooden fencning you see now, not metal chain link. They are going to double track one day here and that spells double dangerous so the fence is a necessity. At grade crossings - even if just a few would help a lot and there may be one coming at Grandview St. eventually. But there are more tunnels earmarked and one was just approved at El Portal for better access to and from a school, a bus stop and will work a lot better with the roundabout planned there. Currently, its illegal to cross the tracks there too.
And while I'm giving Kudos to the city (which I don't always do), a big THANKS for putting some electronic YOUR SPEED signs to help raise awareness of N 101's 35 mph speed limit.
"Why is NCTD suddenly concerned with people crossing the tracks in Encinitas?"
Lawsuits. Period. Its their property and their liability when there are injuries or deaths if they do not post No Trespassing signs and regularly patrol their property for violators. It wasn't that way long ago, but we live in a gimme, gimme sue happy world where many times people are no longer responsible for their own carelessness. Its a bitch, but that's the way it is.
Well put. Tony has done a great job working with NCTD to address a lot of the concerns in Leucadia. Stocks did nada for us.
DeleteIt was Tony who helped address the parking issues along the tracks, so I want to give credit where credit is due.
Because of the projected increased volume on the line in the next 20 years, the long range plan is to double track the entire corridor, which probably means the access you see now will go away, whether via fence or trenching.
The poster above is also correct that it's a liability issue with NCTD in terms of keeping people off of the tracks. It's also an issue with NCTD CEO Matt Tucker, who is the most vain, pompous, and ineffective leader I've ever seen. In Tucker's book, every death on the tracks reflects negatively on him.
If you want to really improve our situation on the rail corridor, call or email Tony and tell him not to renew Tucker's contract.
The Sprinter fiasco of 2 years ago, reduced bus service and scandal after Scandal are all Tucker's legacy...
-Former NCTD
8:37 AM
DeleteAnd Tony's isn't smart enough to realize that the director should be fired?
Well, he would be in the company of all the other board members the last 7-8 years. Tony at least is using his position to help us in Encinitas. Stocks was the prior board member, and we all know what that meant. He tried to hold a press conference touting the tunnel at Swami's when the agency was going to have to close down the line to finish the work. Not great timing.
DeleteThe board members are only at the agency once a month for the meetings. They don't come up into the offices and they don't know what's going on on a day to day basis.
Again, you want a real change at NCTD, call or email Tony and tell him not to renew Tucker's contract....
-EX NCTD
Councilman Tony Kranz is a horse's patootie. What has he done for Encinitas to preserve the coastal sage scrub, the open spaces, following the municipal code and the general plan. Unless you give him a trip like his gift trip to Israel, don't expect him to hear you.
DeleteCall Tony and tell him to get rid of Sabine. Fat chance on that happening.
Stop farting around! Trench the tracks when they're doubled all the way through the city. Install many ped/bike crossing ramps like the one at the Amtrak station in Solana Beach. The four current vehicle/ped/bike at-grade crossings would be like the one at Lomas Santa Fe. The funds come by reallocating SANDAG's $6.5 billion so more goes to rails and less to roads. SANDAG will probably have to do that anyway if they lose the CNFF lawsuit in the CA Supreme Court as they already have in superior and appellate courts.
ReplyDeleteTrenched tracks and many crossing ramps would change the Coastal Rail Trail geography, dynamic and argument.
The fence is going in whether we get a bike trail or not. It sucks, but I suspect people will find ways over, around, or through it.
ReplyDeleteLet's be clear, if not for the fence, the Rail Trail is a no brainier, and would be supported by a strong majority of Encinitas.
I'd happily put this on a ballot. The people objecting are a small group of NIMBYs along San Elijo who don't want the fence or the temporary inconvenience of construction. They also don't want their million dollar sunset views sullied by the distraction of pedal-powered peasants in the foreground.
+1 Many of us living in Cardiff need a safe way to walk or bike into Encinitas. The fence sucks, but right now the tracks are not really crossable at night. It would be good to have several at grade crossings, but they appear to be expensive to put in.
DeleteYou guys are wrong. There is no fence required unless the area is developed. If there is no development, there is no fence.
DeleteOver 500 people (or according to Anonymous, "NIMBYs" whatever that means) have signed up to norailtrail.com in opposition to the Coastal Rail Trail. That doesn't sound like a "small group" to me. Almost all of them are NOT from the corridor, but facts probably don't matter to this poster.
DeleteEducation is another thing not evident with this poster. Much of the stretch of street providing "million dollar sunset views" will have parking "relocated" in the double-speak parlance of Lisa Shaffer. That means it will no longer be there to accommodate the many drivers along San Elijo who regularly park on a whim and use it at sunset to enjoy the same glorious end-of-day ritual for a fraction of the millions that the homeowners pay to do so. The irony is that it is only the auto passersby that have that view taken away because they won't be able to park to enjoy it. That privilege will go to the fat-cat homeowners who will simply look over the fence from their elevated homes, and to the hordes of bicyclists, walkers and joggers that Blakespear, Shaffer and Kranz assert will be using the dedicated path.
When you find your three council members there at their beloved fence enjoying the sunset while you try to navigate southbound around casual bikers sharing your lane at 5 leisurely MPH (they want to catch the sunset, after all) which has become a "sharrow lane," you can revisit your post and pat yourself on the back for being so clever.
While I've been happily crossing the tracks for many years and will continue to do so, the fact is that it is NCTD property with "No Trespassing" signs all along it. And let's not turn this into an environmental issue as that bridge was crossed decades ago. That said, it doesn't mean we can't beautify it by restoring as much natural vegetation as possible. I also don't think of the rail trail as only for the bicyclists who ride through Encinitas on the weekends. I think it will be used by many locals as well.
ReplyDeleteSince the site is called "No Rail Trail" that can only mean Joe A is flatly opposed to it rather than being concerned about it being done right. I won't be joining him.
Nobody is forcing you to sign up for anything. But you cite facts early in your post, so let's stick to facts and not assumptions. The Coastal Rail Trail proposed and being implemented by Kranz, Shaffer and Blakespear conforms to only one vision: a concrete monument. The "typical cross section" of the rail trail shows a 10' wide concrete sidewalk bordered by 5' and 2' sections of alternative hardscape. Hard retaining walls are slated for portions of north San Elijo to accommodate the width and breadth of the trail, giving that stretch the appearance of a long pillbox for drivers on the 101.
DeleteSince being bombarded by hundreds of emails, Shaffer has come back to us with a form letter unequivocal in its commitment to this totally unnatural vision of a Coastal Rail Trail. Blakespear has responded likewise, although she appears to have at least cried as she penned her form letter while lamenting the loss of natural open space in a community her family has enjoyed for four generations. Kranz has, until now, not said much. Here's a fact: the highly developed, concrete path with the inclusion of sidewalks, redundant bike paths, curbing and eradication of parking in sections is a bulwark position for which they have shown no compromise. They have not even acknowledged that hundreds of people, their voting constituents, have said no.
So what do you propose to those who oppose the Coastal Rail Trail plan adopted by intransigent city council members? There is no compromise on their part, and therefore they leave no other option than an opposition slogan and movement that says No Rail Trail. My personal feeling is that a natural path could be conformed to the existing natural environment along that stretch, but fencing and parking issues make any trail a very contentious and difficult project begging for good answers.
I attended the two early SANDAG meetings last year at Cardiff Elementary School, and many of the attendees demanded that any rail trail be a natural path or something other than concrete, fencing and reduced parking. With the "complete street" mentality of the three aforementioned council members, the outcome from city hall and shoved down our necks was exactly what people said they DIDN'T want. That being said, aren't we better off forcing this current project to stop, allowing us to regroup, then work on a rail trail solution with a city council that listens to and respects the needs of its community?
Interpret No Rail Trail however you like, and choose not to sign up if that's your position. But consider the facts and details and see if they fit your community expectations.
No one wants these improvements but council and developers.
ReplyDelete1:48 PM
DeleteWhy do you think developers are the only ones who want it besides council? I disagree with your premise but why developers? Are you so fixated on developers being the root cause of anything you don't like in Encinitas?
I am not on the council nor am I a developer. I want this. We need this to improve our quality of life.
DeleteMe too.
DeleteHow does this improve quality of life? It is only a convenience for those who don't want to walk or can't walk or ride a bike on a dirt trail. Want to improve quality of life?....use the money to help the school system, education will improve your quality of life in the future, not more concrete and fencing. This is such a waste of $6.1M.
DeleteIf education isn't important, use the money to enhance the already completed walking path and bike lane on 101. It even has a better view!
If preserving community character means keeping it as it was in the '50's, then that just ain't happening. There are too many people living amongst us and outside of our little town that want to avail themselves of the beach and it's environs. We can't be selfish about a treasure that belongs to all of California. And yes, the same holds true for the beautiful trails around Olivenhain - they belong to everybody. So let's try and make the Rail Trail something we as residents can be proud of rather than "just say no". Pole fencing is better than chain link. DG is better than concrete. Local flora is better than anything else. Wouldn't you rather shape the future than be run over by it?
ReplyDelete- The Sculpin
Run the trail thru Sculpin's backyard. He can recycle the liquor bottles.
Delete3:24 PM
DeleteI'm not Sculpin and I don't live in Olivenhain but that has to be one of the stupidest comments I've read here. As Sculpin says, Olivenhain already has a number of trails which you or anybody else, whether or not an Encinitas resident, can use.
11:04 AM
DeleteSo the trails in Olivenhain were built for regional use. That wasn't brought out went the council approved them.
Can people on this board for once try and evaluate and issue with trying to whine and cry about different areas of Encinitas. Stick to the rail issue, there are trails in Olivenhain.....
DeleteThe future is spending money on things that really matter and that are needed (like education improvements). A trail and fence are not a need, they are a want from a few selfish council members. Also, why is this trail needed when 101 is already perfectly set up with a walking path and bike lane? What a waste of money!
DeleteHave you seen Joe Alkhas. This guy is clearly not a local and I doubt he has the ability to make it across the tracks. I'm not sure what his real problem is with this project except it's outside his window... Hardly anyone crosses the tracks between Swamis and the north end of the campground. There's no access really and no one surfs here. I guess he doesn't like a crossing put in at Montgomery because of excess noise. But beach access seems to be what he's whining about the most. If you're out for walking to the beach what's an extra couple minutes to go to Swamis or Montgomery. Take your million dollar house and your two cent whining back to wherever you came from. Or at least tell the truth as to why you don't like this project. If you weren't such a kook I would imagine more people may follow your lead. I'm not sure whether I like this project or not but I definitely don't like you.
ReplyDeleteThe refuge of a weak mind and an even weaker position: make personal attacks about the messenger rather than address the message. Your ranting about a public citizen simply trying to oppose (along with hundreds of others) what's considered a bad policy choice by elected representatives, particularly behind the veil of an Anonymous identity, indicates a person with some insecurities or an agenda nobody really wants to hear.
DeleteYou're right about one thing, and that is hardly anyone crosses the tracks between Swamis and the north end of the campgrounds. Otherwise, nothing you mentioned has relevance, making you the one whining. If the majority of this community truly supports a 10' wide concrete path with another extra several feet of adjacent hardscape meandering along the last strip of undeveloped public coastal property, along with fencing and parking redistributed down toward a proposed crossing near Montgomery, then that majority should speak. Instead, our elected representatives didn't properly notify the community last year of the trail meetings or the council vote (one of the biggest complaints from those who DID hear about it and attend), the design ignores the feedback from community participants to make it natural or put it across the tracks (just ask Mayor Gaspar how many messages of support she's received for the current CRT), and the three council supporters of the CRT have opted to become intransigent in their positions rather than indicate a desire to compromise in some way to address the concerns of so many of their constituents who were brave enough to be named when they signed onto the site. As for you, Anonymous, nobody knows your name.
I didn't start the website because of an entitled sense of beach access, view corridor, or personal convenience. Doing so only brings personal attacks by cowards claiming to know me and my intentions. I started the website and helped kick start the movement because I had about half a dozen people implore me to. They couldn't believe how the CRT was not only approved, but how mission creep created a project both before and after approval that actually created a hardship for them (try asking dinner guests or your family to park half a mile down the street and see how many people come). Why they asked me, I don't quite know. Perhaps you should inquire around the community in which you're clearly a bonafide, respected local and ask. Barring that, if you want to call me a kook in a million dollar house jingling around my 2 cents, fair enough. I don't honestly care.
500 complaints out of 60000 plus is less than 1%. Seems like you've been over represented by a 3-2 council vote for this trail.
Delete"(try asking dinner guests or your family to park half a mile down the street and see how many people come)."
DeleteBoo-frickin'hoo. How self-unaware are you?
1. Hire a frickin' valet service for your ocean view soirees.The type of people you likely invite will no doubt be impressed.
2. Treat your family better. If they blow you off because the have
to walk a few blocks, you've got bigger problems than your first-world, one percenter problems.
3. You have a shitty-looking website, maybe one of your gardener's kids or your pool boy can spruce it up for you?
4:34, no reply is warranted. You've made your point clear.
DeleteIf this thing is a slippery slope to the "complete streets vision," then that is a reason to oppose right there.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know why this trail is necessary if there's already one on the 101? Sometimes I wonder whether just the words "Coastal Rail Trail" were all it took to make the three vote for it.
Slippery slope arguments are lame and lazy.
DeleteA sip leads to a gulp leads to drowning. Therefore all drinking of water should be avoided.
Judge this project on its own merits, and judge subsequent projects on their own merits.
Any idea or philosophy taken to its extreme radical ends is usually bad (e.g. Religion), but a moderate application of the ideas may be beneficial.
Is this trail necessary? No, we've done okay without it. Is it nice to have? In my view, yes. As an example, it provides a safe way to walk or bicycle from Cardiff School to Encinitas Library, and similar routes.
DeleteAmerica in a nutshell. A handful of thumb sucking rich white people crying about their rights and whining that things are chAAAnging too fast, demanding that everything has to come to a complete stop IMMEDIATELY lest any chance of a 1% Utopia be lost forever. Here's a tip: the days Lovey and Thurston de Cardiff long for never really existed except in their privileged little minds.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of this project before seeing this post, but I now like everything about it and will lend my support in any way possible. I just wish the inland side of the fence could be made 90 feet tall and opaque so I don't have to think about the whiny-assed titty babies living on the other side.
Oh, and sometimes rails to trails really does make things better:
http://www.schuylkillriver.org/Biking.aspx
Has anyone else noticed what look like tumbleweeds rolling down the 101 just south of Swami's? I expected a big anvil labeled to fall from the sky, but all I got was a Trident missile test.
ReplyDeleteTry riding a bike north on San Elijo on trash day. I'm assuming this Joe A is worried about his view. Because the beach access angle is a bit of a joke. I've lived here my whole life (43 years) and have never crossed between Swamis and Montgomery.
ReplyDeleteThe rail trail as planned removes HUNDREDS of parking spots on the west side of Vulcan. No thanks.
ReplyDelete512 pm
ReplyDeleteParking spots for what? Vagrants or the dude with the old Mercedes who has a car cover over it and live there...People eating lunch? Or do you live there and need parking for your look at my view soirées.
When the council considered where to put the official CRT in Cardiff, there were two options: along 101 or along San Elijo Ave.
ReplyDeleteThere's a north-south walking path on the west side of 101. Some bicyclists use it too. There's a separate bike path southbound and northbound. All those combined are effectively a coastal rail trail, and they connect directly with walking and biking routes from Swami's north.
Currently, riding a bike either way on San Elijo is dangerous because the pavement is barely wider than two cars. The only place to walk safely is in the dirt on the west side.
The council chose San Elijo for the CRT because it's more local. They saw 101 as being the through or express route.
The CRT on San Elijo will provide a safer bike/walk route than is there now, will eliminate many parking spaces on the west side, and will hinder crossing the tracks illegally to get to the beach.
5 weeks ago, the same councilmen tried to make the same route on San Elijo and Vulcan, (And Birmingham Drive) 'no parking zones' so they could add more bike lanes. Along the SAME route as the CRT! When the traffic commissioners demanded to know HOW such a stupid idea made it onto a Commission Agenda, it turned out that Lisa herself demanded it of the staff and without a manager to protect them, they acquiesed. There was NEVER a council public hearing or vote on the two agenda items. The Commission voted it down. This week's strategic plan report shows 26 mil being spent by 3 council-people to make Encinitas 'bike-city'. Without discussion in public, like the narrowing of lanes on El Camino Real. When Lisa led the other two into approving the Coastal Rail Trail, they voted to spend another $7 million for it that the city doesn't have. A new council can pull the wings off this folly after next November if Lisa and Tony are shown the door. BTW the same Traffic Commission voted down a Council plan last Monday to take over and close down F street between 101 and 4th Street so Encinitas 101 can move down there from Vulcan and better compete with brick and mortar businesses that pay local taxes that old DEMA supposedly reps: the Council will do anything to try and complete their 'Living Museum' including impeding traffic in downtown where they refuse to increase law enforcement and the 101 groups that supposedly rep the local businesses are conspiring with them. Finally, it was only after the CRT was passed when the NCTD 'fencing' became a reality, yet Blakespear continues to state that she believes this will benefit the entire city. Nonsense. It benefits SanDag, not Encinitas.
DeleteA little off topic, but this video proves how 3 legged roundabouts don't slow emergency vehicles.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1bc_1447235764
Drunk people also take that racing line.
DeleteSo we should align our roads for drunks?
DeleteGreat video and a good route for emergency vehicles at one-lane roundabouts, whether three- or four-legged.
ReplyDeleteI apologize for another off topic direction, but in todays Coast News Joe Moris, inside of the last page, was allowed to voice an outrageously arrogant and ignorant political column that would never have been allowed in the past. Jim Kidd, were the f are you? Chris Kidd where the f are you? Tony Cagalla we know all too well where you are and you should have been shown the door long before todays submission, if the Coast News wants to preserve any semblance of the respect we have held for your publication over the past decades in our community.
ReplyDeleteThat is long gone and has been since your new editor came on the scene. You should have gone ahead and sold out, if you allow such dribble to be published under your formerly respected name.
We have counted on your publication to stand and defend this community in the past. That, I am afraid, is history, if such crap as that that appeared today is allowed to be published.
If anything, his column should be on the opinion page. Why is he allowed to voice political based assumptions on his own space on the last page and not on the editorial page? You have sold us out.
If this is allowed to continue you might as well go ahead and sell out for real. At this point, it will be no big loss to our community. Such a shame that you would squander your decades long advocacy for something so shallow as Joe Moris' column.
Tony Cagala, this is on you and I am not really that surprised. The bigger surprise is that Jim and his son Chris have allowed this to occur. The Coast News relevance has been degraded greatly and you have let this happen. You were a beacon of hope in our community for years. Now, not so much and we miss that passion you showed in the past. Is it in you to reclaim the respect you had in the upcoming political year?
Jim and Chris please come back to us for us.
I agree. What a nut job.
DeleteCan you share what date of the Coast News you are talking about. I just picked up the Nov. 13th edition and I didn't see anything from Tony Cagala. Thanks.
DeleteIt's in the second section of this weeks paper (Nov 13 2015), on Pg B19. Written ( and I use the term loosely) by Joe Moris, and called "Baby Boomer". In a nutshell, there may not be an election,."they" are coming for all yer guns, and Martial Law is looming on the horizon. I find the Coast News these days is perfect for lining my kitty littler box. Shame on Jim Kydd and his bush league editor for printing this nonsense.
DeleteThey're both looking for the money they spent funding Prop A, check in Olivenhain.
DeleteI may not agree with his opinion, but he certainly has the right to state it, as long as it's labeled as opinion, which it is on the website.
DeleteIf you really don't like it, vote with your feet and don't patronize his real estate services or the advertisers in the Coast News. That's your right, like it's their right to print it.
-MGJ
Back to the rail trail. Councilman Tony Kranz doesn't care about safety along San Elijo. It is a bad mix of cars and bicycles now without attracting more bicycles.
ReplyDeleteI care about safety! I would like to see a safer way to bike and walk with my children from Encinitas to Cardiff. I would like it to be safer and easier to cross over Vulcan and San Elijo to get to the existing "rail trail" that's there now. So if your reading this next time you are driving down that street stop and let someone cross! I would like to see no parking on Vulcan as of lately a lot of cars have been parking there making it even harder to cross the street because they block the line of sight.
ReplyDeleteAnd the majority of people parking there cross the tracks and go to work in the lumberyard.
The parking argument is total bs. Here's why:
ReplyDeleteAt present there are no marked spaces between Santa Fe and Birmingham. Because nothing is marked, parking is very chaotic. Some people park head-in. Others park in a parallel orientation. People leave lots of space between their car and the next, because there is no organization, and one has to leave room for other cars to get in and out.
Some clever fool in Cardiff measured the distance, and calculated the theoretical current parking, assuming stalls were marked every 8 ft like an organized parking lot.
But it's not, and that number of cars has never parked there, won't ever park there, can't ever park there. Not just because of the lack of organization, but also because there isn't enough demand for parking to fill that stretch. There are no commercial businesses or parks through most of it, and no good footpaths to the beach between Swamis and the campgrounds.
The parking that is lost when the rail trail is built is both theoretical, and useless parking.
Having clearly marked parallel parking along that stretch will cause cars to park at greater density than they do today, effectively increasing the real, usable parking.
Go there any time and see for yourself. You'll see what I'm saying is true.
Completely agree. Cardiff's problem is of people's own making. If you build or remodel your house, you should provide ample parking, with some extra parking for guests. Even if you live on San Elijo!
Delete7:14 Yes, parking is haphazard along San Elijo. It has been for many decades, and people have managed to deal with it and even live with it. If you look at the plan that the City Council wants to roll out, however, nearly half the stretch you're talking about, toward Sante Fe Dr., isn't slated to have "clearly marked parallel parking" allowing for greater parking efficiency. That parking is going to vanish. The City will tell you that it is being reallocated to the south near to more commercial areas, resulting in a "net equal parking" scheme that only a government official can understand and appreciate.
DeleteYou suggest that readers here go there anytime to see for themselves. Check that. I met some senior residents a few days ago near the intersection of San Elijo and Cornish, whose combined tenure of residence in Cardiff is nearly 100 years, and I doubt they share your view that the lost parking in front of their homes is "theoretical and useless." When they tell their senior visitors to park up the hill on Cornish a hundred or two hundred yards away, I'm suspect such instructions will not be well received.
I understand it's been going on a long time, but remember that the parking you see as an entitlement belongs to NCTD. It's not yours. It's not even the city's land.
DeleteThis is Cliven Bundy all over again.
Try to wish the impact away 11:42, but when a convenience such as continuous, open parking access is enjoyed by non-owners for decades it creates an implied easement or what's called a prescriptive right. NCTD has no necessary use for much of the land within its right of way and therefore does not and cannot enforce it, which has given rise to the prescriptive right issue.
DeleteBut let's not ignore that much of the land adjacent to the rail corridor is in fact public land. Just look at where the rail ties have been placed. Residents, for the most part, have simply been parking on public land, and to suddenly remove it would result in a measurable cost on those residents that one would have to counterbalance with the benefit achieved by those engaged in recreational biking (and please don't try to sell the fiction that spandex bikers are clamoring for this ... even Lisa Shaffer concedes the CRT is for recreation).
Can you honestly say with a straight face that NCTD wants to or would somehow benefit from trying to perfect its property rights for bluff top land 13ft higher than its rails? And you, as a resident, would side with NCTD to deny public parking use, as has been the case for decades? If so, I'd have to ask you what your title is down at city hall.
Go there on seven successive days and nights and count the cars. Note the duplicates. Add the 14 figures, subtract the duplicates, and divide by seven. That will give a pretty good idea of how many cars park there daily. Then compare that figure with how many organized spaces are designated in the trail plan. That will indicate how many parking spaces will be gained or lost.
ReplyDeleteThose parking spaces are on land that belongs to NCTD. Land they need to modify to mitigate the effects of double tracking.
Delete9:21 AM
DeleteThe rail trail doesn't mitigate the effects of double tracking.
Nothing mitigates the effects of double tracking and the doubling of rail traffic that will follow. The train noise, the horns and the dust will combine to be unbearable. Traffic backups at the four grade crossings will be twice as frequent. Deaths by train, which now average one per year, will increase.
DeleteSince so many refer to the way things were, you'll undoubtedly remember that the tracks predate us all. While double-tracking may be considered new, Santa Fe (now BNSF) always had the option to add side tracks or a second track. NCTD now owns the right-of-way and is part of the effort to increase train times and frequency by double-tracking the whole line.
DeleteYes, the tracks are a major pain in the ass and I cross them often. But with a second track, anyone crossing can no longer assume all is clear when a train passes. There might be another one bearing down from the other direction. Since I grew up near a mainline with three tracks, this doesn't concern me but others might take longer to catch on.
The plan is to eventually trench the whole stretch through Encinitas as some point to go with the double tracking. Bottom line, if you're crossing, you have to really pay attention, because trains come with great frequency...
DeleteFor clarification:
ReplyDeleteThe rail corridor between E Street and Chesterfield is already double tracked. It was done years ago. This is the stretch in play for the rail trail. SANDAG and NCTD are planning to extend the double tracking south across San Elijo Lagoon and north through Leucadia. Both entities are independent, but coordinate on transportation issues, along with Caltrans.
SANDAG offered Encinitas two options on the rail trail, either on the west side of the tracks along 101 or on the east of the tracks along Vulcan/San Elijo. South of Chesterfield the rail trail will require all users to go onto 101 until connecting with the trail in Solana Beach. North of E Street users will have to find their way north either along 101 or Vulcan.
In the three workshops held in Encinitas SANDAG made certain thing very clear. There will be a fence and lighting the whole length. It may be post and cables. The trail will not be decomposed granite. It will be hard surface wide enough (8-10 ft.) to accommodate bicycles, mothers will baby strollers, skate boarders, joggers, casual walkers, and dog walkers.
The problem area is south of Santa Fe where the usuable area is so narrow that all parking will be lost and the above ground electric boxes and fire hydrants create obstacles. To help solve this problem car lanes will be narrowed and and the southbound lane will be a sharrow lane. Anyone can walk this stretch and easily see the problem. It will be complicated on Fridays when all the EDCO trash containers are lined up along the street. Further south the right-of-way is much wider, so the parking situation will not change.
SANDAG has made it clear there will be no rail trail bridge across the San Elijo Lagoon. There isn't any money for it, nor apparently for it in the future. The result is to have the trail going back and forth across the tracks onto 101. Might it not be better to utilize 101 in the Cardiff stretch? The rustic existing trail could be improved. Between Chesterfield and Mozart there was an improved dg trail, but was neglected and washed away and overgrown in many spots. The truth is that the narrow right-of-way further north is extremely problematic, and if used, will likely create more problems than it solves.
The council made a decision without fully thinking through the consequences. This often happens when outside money is being used. There's a rush to spend it and not lose it. Vulcan/San Elijo is carrying much more traffic than a few years ago. It's a cut-through street now for many to avoid downtown Encinitas. All the fixes to squeeze the rail trail along San Elijo will make it more dangerous for everyone.
If I recall, the 101 option required one lane of traffic to be shut down in that same narrow area? Is this correct?
Delete101 is one lane each direction south of the Swami's lot.
DeleteDouble track merges to one a little south of Birmingham.
11/13 5:45 already gave 9:23's essentials.
San Elijo has been a cut through street for at least the last 20 years....
DeleteThank you 9:23 for the informative clarification. Your points resonate well with the opinion of many petitioners against the CRT who'd like to see the CRT adjacent to the rail corridor next to the 101 and some improvement made to the dirt area adjacent to the street corridor.
DeleteI'd like to point out that a couple of months ago I made a request with the Encinitas City Clerk's desk to provide the analyses drawn up by the Fire Department and the Engineering Department concerning the CRT's impact of narrower lanes, sharrows, a dedicated northbound bike lane and reconfigured parking along San Elijo and Vulcan. Naturally one would assume our City Council requested a detailed evaluation of how the CRT would affect emergency response times, ambulatory times to the hospital and traffic flows through a vital thoroughfare that provides quick access to most Cardiff and Encinitas areas west of I-5.
But they didn't. No reports, no analysis. As stated plainly and clearly above, the council made a decision without fully thinking through the consequences.
Where is the EIR for the Cardiff section of the rail trail? No mention of that.
ReplyDeleteScheduled for 2016.
DeleteScratch that. I heard secondhand today that an EIR is not, in the opinion of the city, a necessary preliminary step for the CRT. Go the the counter at the building department and verify it yourself, but I trust the guy that told me what he'd learned.
DeleteMost of the folks on San Elijo fighting against the rail trail live in houses that are greater than 2-stories and 30 ft.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'
Where is the EIR for the Cardiff section of the rail trail? No mention of that.
ReplyDeleteTime for a lawsuit.
The effort to stop this trail may be justified but the fear mongering created by residents is self serving. Research this yourself because the norailtrail website is there for the few hundred residents on San Elijo. The blocked beach access scare tactic, in an area that's rarely crossed, is at best weak.
ReplyDeleteThe government in 2007 tried to force stack and pack housing on the NTCD land. The council appointed a crony named Norby to push a zoning plan called The Steel Draft that sought to create 3+ story lot line to lot line zoning for all of Cardiff including the rail area. Residents got the document changed by alerting the public. The rail trail is g he opening to high density housing on tracks wait for it, The rail trail will also destroy unique community character that Blakespear and Shaffer claim they want to protect. Lastly the rail trail will invite more cars blocking our streets and worsening pollution
DeleteKindly cite what "fear mongering" is created by the self-serving residents you reference. Are the residents anywhere near Montgomery who dread the train noise day and night from an at-grade crossing fear mongering? Avoiding the prospect of honking trains as their frequency doubles from north of Montgomery all the way to south of Chesterfield is self serving? Are elderly residents on north San Elijo and along Vulcan who will lose parking near their homes fear mongering? To desire to hold onto street parking for an extra car, for guests and visitors, and for trade workers and others doing work at houses, is self serving?
DeleteAs for the "blocked beach access scare tactic," I don't know of a single surfer or regular beach goer intimidated at all by the prospect of a fence. Plenty enough dissenters made clear at the May 20 council meeting that the proposed fence at the typical crossing points near Verdi, Liszt and Montgomery would get cut, just as the fence has behind the Lumberyard at key access points. I'm certainly not condoning vandalism or the destruction of public property, or even the threat of it, but I am saying that facts are not instruments of fear.
When did the council approved the EIR? Council and SANDAG must have environmental review of this coastal rail trail project. No EIR, no project.
ReplyDeleteOkay, lazy. Google answered your question in less time than it probably took you to write it.
Delete"ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE
» Conceptual Planning
Fall 2013 – Spring 2015
» Existing Conditions Analysis Completed late 2013
» Preferred Design Spring 2015
» Preliminary Engineering Spring 2015 – Spring 2016
» Environmental Review Spring – Summer 2016
» Final Design Winter 2016
» Construction Winter 2017"
The rail trail can be put on the western side of the tracks. This beautiful piece of coastal habitat needs to be preserved, not developed. There are beautiful sandstone formations in there that will get destroyed when the graters come out to lay the pavement through nature. Put the trail on the other side of the tracks and keep things the way they are. That's the smartest thing to do for Cardiff. I support www.norailtrail.com. This is the way it should be.
ReplyDeleteThere's not much time before the combination of a rising ocean and atmospheric instability erode access from the south anyway, so what's to preserve except convenience and exclusivity for the lucky few who managed to occupy that stolen land first. Screw them, the public deserves access.
DeletePave paradise and put up a parking lot is all about this amounts to, waste of taxpayers dollars and no enhancement over what is enjoyed now. In no time this council will make us like Manhattan beach. A resounding NO to this awful plan.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't we put it on the ballot?
ReplyDeleteProposition Duh:
Do you want a recreational bike path deprecated from traffic connecting downtown and Cardiff paid at least 80% from outside the city budget?
Yes or no?
Duh.
Pro tip: when your passion becomes fighting a bike path, you should consider the life choices that led you to this point.
Separated.
Delete9:29 it is not about fighting a bike path but about protecting small town community character many of us moved here for. We like Carpinteria pathe- not LA styled concrete bike paths
DeleteWhat a shock! I just read that the guy spearheading this campaign has lived here since '09 and lives on San Elijo. Joe A. Is not worried about us long time locals and our beach access he's worried about his guest parking lot and million dollar views. I guess living here for 6 years has really given him a feel for my community. If you support his cause do it on your own and not thru his website or FB page because his motives are purely his own. He's not looking out for our community he's looking out for himself.
ReplyDeleteDustin, stop while you are ahead. First amendment covers this.
DeleteAs for looking out for himself, what do you think Lisa, Tony and Cathy are doing?
8:12,
DeleteDoes the first amendment also "cover" 10:08's comment?
By the way, the first amendment prohibits the government from criminalizing speech. Unless 10:08 is a government official who is threatening to jail someone for speech, then your comment is confusing.
8:12 - Of course anyone has the right to make their views known. However, it is important to know their motivations. That 10:08 offers up some information is good.
DeleteWe all look out for ourselves, but our root motivations can inform others.
I don't remember asking Joe A not to speak? The problem is Joe A has not surfaced on any community issue in this city in his long 6 years here. Now he's asking the community to support him for his own selfish reasons. His website is full of half truths and very misleading. He claims to be worried about beach access but doesn't want a legal way to cross at Montgomery because it's noisy. He claims the trail will add vagrants. There's bushes along san Elijo that vagrants have frequented for decades. The trail would remove these and hence remove the cover that keeps them hidden. He claims hundreds of parking spots will be lost. This is false. Spots will be lost but not hundreds. The parking there is set to become parallel. He claims it will cost "our city coffers" 8 million dollars. Again false. There is 5 million plus allotted for this project and the 2-3 million shortfall is not necessary the city's responsibility yet. If you want to be sheep follow this guy. Whatever your stance on this trail is, if you want to be taken seriously run as far away this guy as you can. His best interests are his only care.
DeleteDustin , you just admitted parking will be lost and the unwanted plan will cost taxpayers $8 million
DeleteRight but not hundreds of spots and not 8 million from the "city coffers".Just looking for honesty. Is that too much too ask?
DeleteQuestion: if we turn down the SANDAG/NCTD money, will it be returned to taxpayers?
DeleteAnswer: No. It will be snapped up by some other town.
Dustin Campbell, have we met? I don't recall such an encounter, and given the class and insight you've demonstrated here I think I would remember. You seem to know all about my intentions, limited to what you call my "worry about my guest parking lot and million dollar views." Six years of residence, 13 years of property ownership and 40+ years in the area doesn't quite make for real local status with you either, but only a legendary local such as yourself is entitled to exalt such status on us newbies. Perhaps I'll be so lucky one of these decades, as will some of my closest colleagues in this norailtrail.com effort, people who have lived right in this neighborhood for 30, 40 and 50 years. One of my more vocal colleagues probably taught you in a class or two when SDA was still San Dieguito High School and you were barely 15yo, assuming you were living here then.
DeleteThere's one thing I want to know. You call this place "my community." Sounds important. Please let me know if the City Council answers to you, given your esteemed position as head of this community. I, and hundreds of others who share a common view, would really like to put the CRT dispute to rest and welcome the opportunity to discuss the matter like adults with a reasonable and compromising city official.
Okay, sarcasm and poor jokes aside, nobody is asking you to be a sheep or sign onto the norailtrail.com movement, but at least try to be fair when disputing it. For instance, you casually gloss over a $2-3 million shortfall between the grants and the "estimated" cost of the CRT. Most of us who have built homes or done major home projects know the real meaning of the word "estimate," as does this city, where the estimates disclosed to the public for the rail underpass at Sante Fe or the Community Sport Park fell short of the actual costs. It's a little disingenuous to suggest that it may not be the city's responsibility either now or in the future. Even the city hasn't declared such a thing.
As for parking, I didn't state that hundreds of parking spots would be lost, but rather that it would reduce access to free parking. That statement is a fact. Here's what the city's CRT report actually says: "Approximately 640’ north of Verdi Avenue, the CRT would be directly adjacent to San Elijo Avenue, this cross section would continue to just north of Cornish Drive. Within this adjacent segment, there is a 450’ section where parking on the west side of San Elijo Avenue would be eliminated; the remaining parking within this adjacent segment (Verdi Avenue to Cornish Drive) would be parallel."
Let me at least commend you for expressing your views out in the open without the veil of an Anonymous handle. I respect that. I've been attacked by unknown individuals as a kook, non local, high roller and other slights by people who have never met me, haven't bothered to read about why I ended up the namesake of this opposition movement, and don't have a clear argument based on facts to dispute the reality that the CRT is one of those projects that is impossible to navigate absent unreasonable sacrifices by many residents living west of I-5. When lacking a strong argument, it's easiest to attack the messenger. I'm an adult and can take it -- this is what I signed up for. My ultimate concern is to let the facts speak for themselves and either move my neighbors to dissent, accept complacency, or find some personal value in the City's version of the CRT. Up to you.
We could better use the money for safe, quiet at grade crossings, not eliminating more access and more parking and adding another route when there is already a separated bicycle and pedestrian lane on the West side of 101, in Cardiff.
DeleteTeresa Barth and SANDAG corrected Planning. The railtrail is funded in the foreseeable future only from Chesterfield to G St., along the tracks NOT to E Street, as is incorrectly stated by both Shaffer and Blakespear, as I recall. Council is given "briefings" by staff that too often twist the truth and put a more development, more make-work spin on everything.
The grant money could be used instead, also, for a safer RR crossing at Leucadia Blvd, where Tony Kranz had a near death experience, while bicycling, as he's related to a few.
Question, would there have to be fencing without the railtrail? Does Lisa Shaffer, and Catherine Blakespear, in their newsletters imply that with double tracking, fencing would be mandatory?
The Coastal Commission would weigh in on our losing parking and access, but the CCC is more conservative now, since Esther Sanchez was replaced by Greg Cox.
Coastal Commission staff has many conference-call meetings and other communications with Encinitas staff, whereby the City is given every deference over private individuals objecting to certain unwanted city development projects, pushed through by Engineering, Planning and Public Works.
1:14 trust me you will be receiving more support on this effort. Another example of elected officials being completely out of touch. This plan of theirs is pathetic.
DeleteJoe,
DeleteThank you for fighting the rail trail and bringing to light the costs, both monetary and the severe lost of community character, of this rail trail boondoggle.
Please, neighbors, do not judge comments by how long the speaker has owned their home. There are many of us who have owned our homes for over 30, 40 years. And, many for only a few years. One does not supercede the other. My cherished daily walk/jog/bike ride to the water (yes, right over the tracks) are as valuable to me as to the new property owner down the street. Our rights as members of the community are equal. Let's keep the discussion to the talking points, without judging merit of property ownership. Help us remain CARDIFF BY THE SEA.
DeleteIt does matter because the speaker only shows himself in city issues when it affects him. Where are all these residents on the $3 million and 2200 sq. ft waste of money lifeguard tower. I'll tell you where: up on San Elijo looking after number one. Where was he on pacific view? Encinitas community park? Absent until it affected him. Thanks for the longtime activism Joe from somewhere around north county previous to Cardiff.
Delete9:05, are you suggesting that a resident must chime in on all political decisions down at city hall or their opinion loses all credibility? Or is advocacy about just one or two public policies enough to bestow legitimacy? You're the one making the rules here and some guidance would be welcome.
DeleteWhat about you -- do you spend Wednesday nights at every City Council meeting and request your 3 minutes to actually speak on every subject? Show us your bonafides as an activist leading the cause of any particular project, put your name out there and tell us what you did. Otherwise, try to be an adult, stay on point, and spare me the anonymous personal attacks.
Just asking that you care about the community when it's not in your backyard.
DeleteAnd no I'm not at every meeting but I didn't start a website for the less than 1%.
4:44, are you serious? Who pays for and benefits from a CRT along the coastal rail corridor? If you think the community in east Encinitas and Cardiff will be enjoying regular use and benefit proportionate to those on the coast, then you are clearly the one that doesn't seem to care. When the invoice arrives, and the tab for the CRT is a few million dollars more than the grants our city staff have secured to pay for it (as we all know will happen), who do you expect will have to pay a disproportionate amount for the shortfall? Read my earlier post showing a Q&A with SANDAG -- there is no defined contingency source for excess expenditures over and above the budget for this project.
DeleteI stated in another post that the impact of the CRT affects all residents, east or west, in the wrong way. It's not about a website for the "less than 1%." Come on, you can do better than that. Around 700 people signed up before SANDAG decided they didn't want to listen to the community whine about antiquated notions like beach access, redundant bike paths, natural habitat, parking, and good old fashioned governmental mission creep, and they temporarily brought the email campaign down. But these 700 people came from all over the community, including a small percentage of people from surrounding cities who simply enjoy our kooky town. Even the folks along San Elijo and Vulcan that you sneer about being 1%ers -- face it, a lot of people up and down this corridor are carryovers from the generation who bought their ocean-view homes long before money lost its meaning, or they are seniors who have been here longer than you've been alive.
I care about the CRT because it is in my backyard. Why wouldn't I? But don't presume to know so much as to tell me that I haven't considered the impact on the rest of the community. That's just a flat out lie. You impose an unrealistic standard on me and my efforts to stop the CRT from proceeding. I'm just an ordinary citizen with an opinion that I'm entitled to make and share, just like yourself. But given the above facts, where nobody clearly wins with the CRT except perhaps a small contingent of bicyclists, who are our elected representatives representing with this bad policy? What I'm saying is we can do better than what Blakespear, Shaffer and Krantz are imposing upon us. If you want to support them, bully for you, I'm not attacking you for it. But pay that same consideration forward. We can agree to disagree.
Headlines:
ReplyDeleteOther city residents are tired of the push for more bike lanes -
Coronado Residents Oppose Addition of More Bike Lanes;
(Santa Barbara) Residents oppose Bike Master Plan
Encinitas city traffic department is restriping El Camio Real to add an additional 2 feet of "buffer" to the bike lanes. To do this they will decrease each travel lane by one foot. What has not been discussed is the new law that vehicles must give bicyclists an additional 3 feet. That additional 2 feet for the bike lane will allow bicyclists to ride side by side. Will El Camino also get sharrows.
Let's hope so.It would be nice to be able to ride a bike to the store without the threat of texting SUV drivers knocking me off my bike with their rear-view mirrors as happened to me last year...
DeleteYou should see LA!
Deletelink
Has the City done an actual survey to see how many people actually ride bikes through this area? I remember when they built the bile and ped. crossing from Vulcan to Swami's. I asked is there some sort of device that tells us how may people actually use it, as it was quite expensive (25 million if memory serves me). Anyway, the answer was NO that didn't. It would be kind of smart, in my opinion, if you are going to spend that kind of taxpayer money to see how many citizens use whatever you are building. I think riding bikes and safe streets are great. But, this is an older community, unfortunately. So my question is "how many people who live in Encinitas actually ride bikes?" I haven't seen Tony, Mark, Lisa or Kristin riding one. I think I saw Catherine ride one but 4 out of 5 council people are too old, or too debilitated, for lack of a better word, to even ride them. As far as safety of our children, I am 100% behind that. But, I think there is a way to do it without putting up a fence, lights, etc.
DeleteSorry for the typo in the first sentence. Should have said "BIKE" not BILE"
Delete10:06 AM
DeleteI've seen Lisa ride a bike. Also, the rail trail is for walkers/joggers as well who I see often along the tracks.
10:06 AM
Delete"... as it was quite expensive (25 million if memory serves me)". Your memory failed you unfortunately. The cost was $5.9 Million.
Here is the breakdown from a SANDAG news release:
The project was a successful partnership between SANDAG, NCTD, Encinitas, and Caltrans. SANDAG secured the funding and oversaw the construction. NCTD is the owner of the rail line and facilitated construction. The City of Encinitas contributed $1.25 million from its capital improvement program for design and construction and will maintain the crossing. The project also was made possible by state and regional transportation funding, including $2.75 million from TransNet, the regional half-cent sales tax for transportation administered by SANDAG.
According to the Sheriff's Dept., and according to State Code, bicyclists, except when passing. are to ride single file, in any lane, including in overly wide eight foot wide bicycle lanes. The City's restriping the bike lanes so wide encourages bicyclists to break the law, as they do every weekend, along 101.
DeleteWrong.
DeleteHere's the applicable law:
21202. (a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
(3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, BICYCLES . . ."
When riding two abreast, the rider on the left cannot ride further to the right, because there is a bicycle there.
11:00 AM
DeleteNo complete cost has surfaced. Last numbers were close to $7 million.
12:11 PM
Delete"Last numbers were close to $7 million." That may be true but you need to prove it. Give us a reference that we can look up.
3:16 PM
DeleteA little hard to look up when the city keeps the books closed. Why don't you check SANDAG to see how much they paid. Then contact the city and ask for all the invoices for the Santa Fe underpass. Finally, ask the council to put a total accounting of the underpass as a council agenda item.
Has staff ever provided a total accounting of the cost of the community park?
You are misconstruing code and direction from the Sheriff's Dept., 6:35. Your last sentence is NOT quoted from the code, but is your misinterpretation of it, because bicyclists are to follow the rules of the road for motor vehicles, which includes driving/riding single file. Bicyclists going less than the speed of traffic can go into motor vehicle lanes, outside of any bicycle lane, or the righthand side of the roadway to pass or to avoid obstacles. Bicyclists are to ride single file in all lanes, except when passing, according to the law.
Delete12:15,
DeleteHere's the law on the state website.
You'll find that I quoted the law correctly.
All I did was copy and paste, delete subsections 1 and 2 for brevity, and add emphasis by using all caps on the word "bicycles."
Go ahead, you can say it:
"I was wr___."
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=veh&group=21001-22000&file=21200-21212
Bravo to the no on the current rail trail folks. This is just another example of Planning subverting stated intentions to allow for future density infill increase opportunities.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has eyes can observe for themselves where the vast majority of cyclers choose to ride and with the best of reasons. Riding along the 101 and the ocean is the attraction. Whoever thinks that realigning the rail trail to San Elijo and Vulcan will redirect these bikers off of the 101 is deluded.
This stretch of San Elijo and Vulcan does deserve some consideration for improving the safety of pedestrians and bikers but to think the majority of 101 cyclers will change their route is incomprehensible except to Planning. You have to know there is much to this plan that Planning has let us in on.
Sound familiar after the recent HEU roll out?
Lastly, Je Suis Paris and that goes for all of the civilized world.
10:37 AM
Delete"This is just another example of Planning subverting stated intentions to allow for future density infill increase opportunities."
The prism that you view the world through. It's all about turning Encinitas into Little Italy. If only the voices in your head would stop.
If only our planners' bending and breaking rules and colluding with developers would stop.
Delete10:37am. If you can't see the thrust of Plannings efforts is to turn our community into an urban intensive town, you are blind and compromised. This is a fight to preserve our specialness against profit seeking vultures circling overhead. Power to the people. Occupy, occupy, occupy.
ReplyDeleteThese urban pictured housing plans remind one of a prison enclave minus the high walls and gun turrets.
Any citizen who has seen these story boards can come to the same conclusion for themselves. Is this what you want for our community to become?
Do you want to give up any say over what will come down in the future? That is at stake.
Heads should roll and the sooner the better. Karen, are you paying attention?
Je Suis Paris! We are all one with you.
NATO has been bombing the hell out of the Mideast for years. Now westerners are appalled that the carnage has come home. Maybe we need to reevaluate how we deal with other people (cultures). If war is the short term answer, coordinate with Russia and other countries to bring order to the region.
DeleteThe Coastal Rail Trail along San Elijo in Cardiff is not a through route for bicyclists and walkers. 101 is the through route. Nobody will divert from 101 to ride or walk along San Elijo and then return to 101.
ReplyDeleteThe trail, which isn't really a trail but a wide sidewalk, is for a few people who will walk or bike back and forth between Cardiff and downtown Encinitas.
It's a huge amount of money to spend for a tiny benefit.
You are partly right.
DeleteThe 101 is and will be for sport riders doing 18+ MPH.
The rail trail will be for beach cruisers, families with kids, runners, walkers, couples, shoppers, folks headed to the farmers market or Seaside, folks going to Rimmels, Besta Wan, or Ciccioti's.
You know, locals.
The folks who don't have a safe route today.
There are many of us.
Exactly! There is no safe walk along San Elijo. I would love to have something like Solana Beach has. As to the issue with the narrow section, I really wish someone would have tried to determine a way to get the funding for the retaining wall. NCTD will eventually pay for tunnels in Del Mar but not a simple retaining wall here!
DeleteCountless locals have walked or biked between Swami's and Chesterfield countless times far more slowly than 18 mph.
DeleteWill enough locals use a wide concrete ribbon along San Elijo to make it worth $8 million?
The path on the 101 protected by guardrails is ped only.
DeleteWould you put your kid with training wheels five feet from cars doing 60?
Looking forward to the new trail, as currently planned.
People ride bikes west of the guardrail on the supposedly ped-only asphalt every day, and your kid with training wheels can too.
DeleteNothing made of asphalt, concrete, gravel or DG is a trail. Trails are paths composed of nature's earth, rocks and organic matter.
11:48 AM
ReplyDeleteDon't be so gullible. Even SANDAG says the Vulcan/San Elijo section of the rail trail is regional. You think the state is spending $8 million dollars for a local trail?
Sure it's regional — the Cardiff/downtown Encinitas region. Everybody else will be on 101.
DeleteEnormous quantity of money, tiny local benefit.
Here's some linkage:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.keepsandiegomoving.com/RegionalBikeProjects/coastal_rail_trail.aspx
http://www.sandag.org/uploads/publicationid/publicationid_1766_16277.pdf
One thing to keep in mind is that most of the land directly west of San Elijo (on the east side of the tracks) from Santa Fe to Chesterfield is NCTD property. If the property lines are at all accurate, there is only about 10 feet of right-of-way west of the curb (at least not deep enough to wholly contain a perpendicular parked mid-size car). This is probably why NCTD can erect those barriers because it's on their property. So unless cars are parked parallel and close to the street, they are on (at least partially) NCTD property. So if the city ever wanted to widen San Elijo, with or without a bike trail, those parking spaces would be gone unless NCTD accommodated them.
ReplyDelete10:48 AM
ReplyDeleteThe city council approved local coast program amendments to the General Plan that gave away our rights to challenge what NCTD and SANDAG are doing.
11:12 AM
DeleteHuh? How would the LCP have any effect on the rail right-of-way ownership? The Coastal Commission would have no say in this and coastal access doesn't mean illegally crossing railroad tracks. When NCTD purchased the tracks they purchased the whole right-of-way. If NCTD said they needed to put in a fence for safety reasons, I can't see the general plan having any impact. I think you're going down the wrong path on that one.
11:38 AM
ReplyDeleteRead the Coastal Commission item -
http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2014/8/W17a-s-8-2014.pdf
On the first page is this information -
"One of the letters received from the applicants (dated August 11, 2014)
includes an additional paragraph to be added to Section 1.3 of the NCC PWP/TREP acknowledging that the applicants will indemnify the Commission in the event of a third party lawsuit."
12:08 PM
DeleteSo? Caltrans and SANDAG are the lead submitters for NCC. Encintas is part of that. But any third-party can still challenge it in court.
1:00 PM
DeleteThe applicants, which include Encinitas, will indemnify the Commission in the event of a third party lawsuit. A little quid pro quo.
"I've been attacked by unknown individuals as a kook, non local, high roller and other slights by people who have never met me, haven't bothered to read about why I ended up the namesake of this opposition movement,"
ReplyDeleteYou're the one who complained that the trail would crimp your entertainment plans, so you shouldn't be surprised when people you don't know call you out for your self-serving attitude.
It's probably a good time to climb down off of your cross.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYou conveniently left out my next sentence, 5:55, wherein I state that I took on this leadership role of norailtrail.com expecting personal insults and attacks from desperate, ignorant people unable to cobble together a fact-based argument. Sort of like what you're you're doing.
DeleteI also did not comment on your bleating about the minor inconveniences you describe as"unreasonable sacrifices by many residents living west of I-5."
DeleteFor 99% of Americans, that bourgeois mentality died in 2008, but you "west of I-5" dead-enders cling to it like a psychological life raft. Your concern trolling about the costs to the rest of us is quite transparent. It's obvious you don't give a crap about anything but your property values,convenience, and distance from the peasant class.
The trail is coming, and most people will love it. Get over it.
4:12 AM -- A little envious of the west of Interstate-Fivers? Cool your anger and take a stroll or leisurely bike ride on the proposed trail. Pay close attention to the long narrow strip where the trail will be at the edge of the traffic lanes, which will need to be reduced, creating a dangerous situation for users of the trail and drivers on San Elijo.
DeleteIt's a public safety issue that overrides your attempts at trolling here.
6:51,
DeleteWill the narrow section be less safe for riders than it is right now?
4:12, now I'm "bleating" with a "bourgeois mentality?" If I too was Anonymous, I guess I could hide my class-warfare insecurities by coming off like a tough guy with a Robin Hood fetish. Ad hominem attacks are easy, but can you even cite a relevant point?
DeleteAny mention from me of CRT impacts on Encinitas or Cardiff residents west of I-5 was simple for any grade schooler to decipher. The existence of high hills and steep, poorly maintained streets and 8 lanes of an interstate freeway creates a situation where biker riders and pedestrians from east of I-5 will not feel the regular, daily impacts from the CRT. They will also not gain the same benefit of it. I mean, does anyone honestly believe that residents east of I-5 -- and I count many friends in that area -- are desperate for a designated walking and biking trail on the rail corridor that they would likely as not have to drive to reach? How many times have you seen a bike rider whizzing down Birmingham to enjoy a cruise up and down the corridor?
Face it, if east of I-5 is your neighborhood, I'd stop whining about disparity in property values and separation of the "peasant class" and worry about community equity enjoyed from major public works. East of I-5 residents get little benefit but potentially get burdened by a disproportionate percentage of its expense when it invariably runs over cost estimates and residents are required to ante up. The impact of the CRT affects all residents, east or west, in the wrong way, it's a no-brainer to state it, and you know it.
From NCTD re Coastal Rail Trail: From Shaffer's FB page
ReplyDeleteThank you for your inquiry about the status of fencing along the Cardiff rail corridor.
Safety is NCTD’s top priority along all of our rail corridors. As the owner of the coastal rail corridor, NCTD is required to take action to reduce risks associated with our operations. A key to safe operations on an active rail line is limiting access to the rail right-of-way to only authorized, trained personnel. Accordingly, NCTD has placed no trespassing signs to protect the general public from the risks associated with rail operations. Unfortunately, there continue to be many unsafe intrusions within the railroad right-of-way which has led NCTD to conclude that the best approach is to install fencing as soon as funding can be identified.
At the current time, there is no specific schedule or funding source identified for fencing installation in the Cardiff area. In the near future, NCTD will be seeking planning dollars to develop context sensitive fencing solutions for this area. NCTD will work closely with the city and the community to develop a fencing solution that achieves NCTD's public safety goals and that is the most sensitive design possible for the area.
So where is the part about the fence? It doesn't seem as if NCTD cares one way or the other.
DeleteCARDIFF BY THE FENCE.... You can bet your britches there will be a fence! I've been to every meeting concerning the Rail Trail (it's been on and off the books for years!), and each and every time ANY representative from the RR speaks, they say they want a fence (liability) and that there is NO WAY to invite the public to be closer to the RR tracks (ie, bike path) WITHOUT a fence to protect the various RR entities. They've wanted a fence for years. And now they have THREE RR friendly Encinitas Council members who have happily sold out our access and lifestyle so a few people can ride a paved path next to a fence.
DeleteAnybody who thinks it makes sense to spend $8 million for the convenience of a few locals who want to walk or bike back and forth between Cardiff and downtown Encinitas when perfectly acceptable routes to do that already exist should be working in local, county or state government, or be elected to them. You'd fit right in.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they're already in!
DeleteWhen they build the nice new trail, and families are using it and smiling, I will personally punch Tough Shit Cards of anyone who signed on to the site.
ReplyDeleteJoe and Lynn should be at the front of the line.
By using the "L" word your desperation is fully on view for all to see. It's unfortunate that you can't make an argument to support your point of view.
DeleteTake a look-see. There are already lots of smiling people using the trail as is.
Does anyone know why the No rail trail site is down. Been that way since yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThis is what one commentator on the Neighborhood Walking District group said about why the site is down. Don't know if it is true, though.
ReplyDeleteThe response was so massive that SANDAG apparently decided it didn't want to hear from the public anymore, so it blocked all emails generated from the site. That then caused all further emails sent to SANDAG to bounce, which in turn caused the email functionality to get shut down by the hosting company. SANDAG is a public agency that manages public projects in the public's best interest and has an obligation to accept public comment. Consider that when drawing your conclusions.
You'd be giving them too much credit. They can't even get the ticket kiosks to work...
DeleteThis is true. That's what happened. Joe Alkhas wrote a detailed explanation last night on the Neighborhood Group. I still can't believe SANDAG decided to block public comment. Seems shady.
DeleteThe post for 3:58 are true. We're working to restore email services from the site now.
ReplyDeleteThe Union-Tribune this morning stated that the City Council was getting email through your site from nonresidents. This must be Peak Democracy at work because that's the only way the Council should reject what they're hearing. Outsiders are flooding them with support. Where is our scientific survey?
DeleteOur scientific survey is available for a price. A true random sample of Encinitas residents only is not difficult, and as some one else suggested, you really don't need a focus group. However, the City has no money for such things. Even if a citizen volunteered to do it, they would still say NO. Ask them yourselves if you don't believe me. Because, I have offered.
DeleteSo he's using a form sender from that site to flood people's email boxes. Not exactly the same as people taking the time themselves to send their own email or letter.
DeleteIt's basically a massive spam attempt.....
In the past the city has never ignored input from non-residents. The pro-bicycle people are a perfect example. They flood council meetings and mailboxes with outsiders to present their points of view. Let's not forget that the rail trail is a regional project. It's designed to allow bicyclists to commute to work, for example, from Oceanside to Sorrento Valley.
Delete11:37,
DeleteDid the Save PV web site do the same thing?
Doesn't the argument previously stated here against PD also apply, Or is that only when it helps your cause? How do we know the emails are coming from real residents and they are using their real names and only sending one email per resident?
DeleteShouldn't you be consistent or is that asking too much.
All of a sudden there is concern about statistical relevance and scientific, empirical analysis. Sounds like a lot of grasping at straws and hair splitting rather than expressions of relevant ideas.
DeleteHave some emails of support come from out of the county, even some out of state? Yes. The UT article stated 10% were from outside Encinitas, which may or may not be correct. It seems close. If Lisa Shaffer gave that figure, then at least it means she is counting or reading something from opponents. Nonetheless, this is an internet campaign -- it doesn't have a fence, unlike the proposed CRT, and it doesn't exclude addresses. Many residents in the North County come to Encinitas and Cardiff to enjoy a quaint, natural beach experience. I remember sitting on the beach at Cardiff Reef and having Perry Farrell from Jane's Addiction along with his family giving a phone interview. He said later to me that he enjoyed our beach and liked to bring his family down from LA. Why shouldn't people from around our county who come and spend time and money here express an opinion, or is this still only a local's debate and outsiders are voiceless kooks?
As for criticisms about this being a spam attempt, I doubt you can even define the word spam. If you've ever been active in politics before, or you have signed a petition, you have borrowed someone else's expression of protest and made it your own. Does that make you a liar or the message irrelevant to you? Exactly the opposite -- you find commonality and attach your name to it. The website personalizes it and quantifies the dissent in a more meaningful way, one meant to influence our elected officials who work for and should expect to hear from us. From what I can gather, most of the haters here would be in trouble if someone else wasn't crafting words for them in a public activism campaign. Criticism is easy, its the art of diplomacy and compromise that help define you as a mature adult.
And incidentally, if you want to parse the emails and see where they're coming from and how they've been dealt with, any one of the haters out there is free to go to the City Clerk's desk and file a request for public information for all email communication about the CRT from Blakespear, Shaffer or Krantz, or perhaps all three. You will get your answers there.
2:59 PM
DeleteI guess you weren't reading this blog when everyone was blasting Peak Democracy because it couldn't guarantee absolute integrity of the respondents. And yes that would apply to the Save PV website. I guess some people get concerned only when things might work against them.
I haven't commented before but neither the city or NCTD has any obligation to preserve your parking along the west side of San Elijo or your illegal access across the tracks to the beach. Most Encinitas resident's homes have other houses/development across from them and have, at best, curb parking. Whether the city decides to put in a trail or widen San Elijo, it should do so for larger considerations not just the houses along the east side. The greater good as it were. We all pay taxes the support the infrastructure. While I don't mean to imply that the city ignore you, it has to balance the needs of everyone.
Oh by the way, if this is an example of your thought process, "I doubt you can even define the word spam" let me just say as someone who spent years fighting it on a technical level, it would be best if you first had a better understanding of who you are dealing with then making ignorant statements like that.
3:34- the NTCD land is zoned not for housing, not for a rail trail but for what it is- dirt
DeleteThe council should not rezone that land for any other uses
ahhh--but Stocks, barth, Kranz, Dalager, Blakespear, Shafferm all want stack and pack zoning on the land- ask bobbie mance, that is what this is all about-
Stack and Pack zoning
12:28 put the crack pipe down and check into rehab-
Deletepeople bike to work? give me a break. Less than 5% of the people bike to work. If you want to live where they bike to work move to a third world country full of peasants- if you wait 15 years it'll be hear with Millenials who can't find jobs and are living in 400 sq ft stack and pack modules courtesy of Stocks Shaffer Barth and Kranz
3:34 I like your comment, "it would be best if you first had a better understanding of who you are dealing with then making ignorant statements like that." A perfectly asinine comment coming from a guy named Anonymous. Who AM I actually dealing with exactly? And if your name is Bill Gates, or better yet, Steve Jobs from beyond the grave, perhaps I'll concede. Otherwise, you're simply an Anonymous, angry little man poking exaggerated jabs from behind a curtain, but at least you've peaked my interest ... please define spam for me.
DeleteThen, when you've worn yourself out Googling that definition, perhaps you can cite where I stated that the city or NCTD has an "obligation" to preserve anybody's parking anywhere in Encinitas or Cardiff. I have simply stated the fact (and I have cited actual city language to this effect) that hundreds of feet of parking along San Elijo is going to vanish, including some which serves elderly homeowners who have been residents here longer than the combined age of all three city council proponents for the CRT. I threw in a discussion about prescriptive rights as it pertains to the parking situation, but let's not overload your superior intellect. I'm not much a fan of prescriptive rights, despite how the law might apply it in this case.
You say you haven't commented before (but who's to know for sure given how similar your name sounds to the countless other fact-deprived, faceless antagonists that have sounded off already), possibly because of the profound weight you assign to your ideas, which have sort of fallen flat here. But before you go, consider what I mentioned before about community equity in relation to your concept of "the common good." If you live in the eastern portion of Encinitas, you have little to nothing to gain by a CRT along the rail corridor, be it east or west of the tracks. But when it comes time to cover a budget shortfall that might amount to $3 or $4 million, the City Council won't make the clever distinction of your address when they levy a tax on the residents of this city to cover it.
8:48 PM
DeleteYou are a prickly SOB. You certainly know how to turn up the volume and quantity. Of course you didn't flatly state that the city and NCTD had an obligation. You merely strongly implied it.
As far as knowing who you're talking to, you threw out the Spam dig without the slightest context. You were simply trying to win the argument by putting me down, which I see you continue to do.
Sorry I don't have time for an insult fest, maybe tomorrow.
WC, not sure, if they did, it would be the same thing. Not picking and choosing winners. Just calling spam what it is...
DeleteAnd, of course, as we see every morning and evening, many hundreds of people commute to work on bikes. No doubt, thousands more will join them when the Coastal Rail Trail makes the route easier and safer.
ReplyDeleteActually according to the U.S. transportation survey from 2006 thru 2013, 90% of workers traveling to work drive cars or trucks: meanwhile riding a bike to work was surveyed at less than 2%. National study of 7 years by a pro-bike government agency! Every foot of bike-lane increase means another foot of increased bumper-to-bumper traffic. So, A) There are not hundreds of workers bicycling to work each morning in Encinitas, but there ARE thousands of drivers heading to and from work that are being held up from their punctuality by day-dreamers.
ReplyDeleteA Vision without funding is a pipe dream; unfortunately Tony, Lisa and Catherine are 3 fantasists surrounded by the unemployed and emotionally disturbed, irresponsively spending other people's money. Perhaps we can have a 'recall' at the same time Catherine runs for Mayor from a 'safe' seat?
The Advocate story is really depressing because not one of the 'Nero Trio' tells the truth about the project, yet, Lisa, bereft of self-knowledge again complains about the citizens who are lucid enough to protest this idiocy.
Sorry the satire is too subtle for you. Next time, 1:11 will hit you over the head.
DeleteIt's getting harder to know the truth about all of this. One council member says one thing in a newsletter and another says another thing. Shaffer recently said that the project is only 30% vetted. So there will be a lot more public input. One the other hand, Blakespear leads us to believe it is a done deal. Kranz, so far has said nothing. Muir and Gaspar are against it. I really wish someone would give us a straight answer. Perhaps that is why many citizens are upset. No one really knows what is going to be there. And, that leads to all sorts of speculation that may or may not be true. It is a mystery. Perhaps the Council wants it this way, but as a long time citizen, I know I don't.
ReplyDelete7:06
ReplyDeleteSubmit a public records request to SANDAG.
Following up on the advise of 7:11 (man, that has me thinking of coffee), there's a line from the movie A Few Good Men: (From the questioner) "I WANT THE TRUTH!" (Answer from the seasoned old guy) "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" Ask for public records, it's your right, but be prepared for a truth that will only upset you more.
DeleteNothing is straightforward when you're dealing with SANDAG. The city has to work with SANDAG to implement the trail. SANDAG moves slowly, and not exactly with top notch people.
DeleteAs for the dirt, the parking, and NTCD. Straight up that's their property and they can do what they want with it. That's the reality. As per Shaffer's email, she is right that NCTD will have to go out and find the dollars, probably from the Feds, to install the fence...
Their goal is to fence off the entire corridor, but I think that's a long way off..Right now, only Solana Beach fits that criteria because of the trenching...
It's official.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have enough real problems.
When people decide that a coastal bike trail is worth a "Grassroots Campaign" to oppose, then we have officially crossed the line.
Things are going pretty well in Encinitas if we have the luxury of spending time on this "issue."
I bet the citizens of Dearborn, Baltimore, and Furgusson aren't working on grassroots campaigns to block a bike trail. I suspect they'd be willing to trade problems with us.
"Let's see, I could use my time figuring out how to help foster kids, or getting clean water for villages in Africa, or I could spend my time building a website to fight a bike trail--yup, that one."
Take a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are; then resume using over-the-top demonization to describe those who disagree with you over a fricking bike trail.
This has been your moment of context.
Spot on! Rich old white guy problems.
Deletebut, but, you're posting ANONYMOUSLY!
DeleteIt's not fighting a bike trail. SANDAG presented two alternatives, one on either side of the tracks. At both ends of the Cardiff stretch the bike "trail" will have go on 101. It's fighting what is an expensive, poor choice. If the homeowners in Cardiff are demonized for their perceived selfishness, then the other side is even more selfish because they express their choice as a personal need. A woman spoke at the council meeting on Wednesday, and it was all me, me, me, me. She wanted DG, but condescended to accept hard pavement. Talk about privilege!
DeleteSorry, someone has to step in and break up this back-slapping, self-righteous bacchanal of fraternal finger pointers calling out concerned citizens for being nothing more than concerned citizens (and doing it in a democratic way that somehow displeases them). Seriously, reducing the norailtrail.com campaign that is nearing 1,000 petitioners/residents strong with petty Straw Man arguments without offering so much as ONE counterargument to any relevant fact is just hypocrisy and whiny desperation.
DeleteThese venal critics have nothing to offer, so they debase community criticism and Encinitas residents to "entitled," "rich," "self-serving ... old white guys." Wow ... effective. And why? Because we in the community have the audacity to concern ourselves with multi-million dollar pork-belly projects that will at one point (when the project invariably runs well over its budget) impose yet another tax burden on residents throughout the city (here's your share of the expense, Olivenhain!), as well as burdens on our traffic, beach access, natural vibe and emergency services, while few will actually enjoy a benefit.
When the strained Encinitas budget is the safety net for a CRT project while so many other priority expenditures exist and need money, these holier-than-thou intellectual superiors think most of us should go feed the poor in Africa or walk the picket lines in Ferguson (if you're going to cite Ferguson, 3:25, at least learn to spell it). They look down their nose while typing on their $1400 MacBook Pros in the comfort of their Encinitas homes (or perhaps some of this is happening from a comfortable office or two at city hall?), where they imagine themselves planning humanitarian campaigns from inside violent trenches of social unrest. Yeah, right, these guys couldn't even locate the areas of global desperation they think should supersede the immediate needs of this community.
Spare us the sanctimony and hypocrisy.
Cue the long-winded in Cardiff crybaby response. Something along the lines of why are you hiding behind anonymous or seniors who have dinner parties or repair people over need their parking.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Joe is a retired attorney and has no one to fight with anymore. Or maybe a retired teacher who has lost his audience. Every word out of him oozes condescension.
ReplyDeletehe's a decent writer, though. Probably bathes regularly, too.
Delete/faint praise
Thank you 6:18. Unfair you calling me retired or an attorney (to my attorney friends, you know I'm joking). I'll admit I do bathe regularly, but my wife insists I do so given how much "condescension" I "ooze" daily.
DeleteI believe we can all agree that we need a safe biking route for locals along San Elijo. The City can and SHOULD provide that for us. Ask the question: WHY WOULD THE CITY CHOOSE TO PROVIDE THAT WHILE TAKING AWAY BOTH PARKING AND BEACH ACCESS TO THE EXACT COMMUNITY IT WISHES TO SERVE? There are alternatives available. We begged them to consider them. They refused. And then they voted for REDUCED PARKING and BLOCKED ACCESS. It's simple. There are many solutions, but our leaders chose the one solution that negatively affected the entire community. why?
ReplyDeleteSo anybody who objects to $80 million for a community park, $25 million for a used-up school, $3 million + bond interest for a lifeguard tower, $5.6 million for a rail undercrossing, $1 million per dinky roundabout, or $8 million to luxurify a trail that already exists is an old crank who deserves demonization?
ReplyDeleteI think $250k to $1 million for a roundabout and sidewalk depending on the length and complexity is well worth the money. The rest of the list is worth a shit.
DeleteThere are problems with this trail but everyone who has ever accessed the beach from the area between Santa Fe and Montgomery knows the beach access argument is BS. Stick to the fence angle and money angle. Parking on private Property angle is self serving and won't work.
ReplyDeleteDear all, www.norailtrail.com is back online and fully functional. Please tell your friends.
ReplyDelete" If you live in the eastern portion of Encinitas, you have little to nothing to gain by a CRT along the rail corridor,"
ReplyDelete...and yet, this anonymous resident of Eastinitas (TM) supports the trail whole-heartedly. Go figure.
New definition of "Community Character" issue:
ReplyDeleteAny decision I disagree with.
Basically, same as "Brown Act violation" and "violating Prop A."
I will be happy to submit a CPRA request to the NCTD, SANDAG and the City of Encinitas. Can someone help me with the exact wording of what I am asking for. I don't want the 750 emails that were sent in, , as it is 10 cents a copy for anything I ask for, and we all have a pretty good idea what those emails said. Someone asked for an ariel view on the NORAILTRAIL site, and I will ask for that. If anyone has suggestions for the wording for these requests, I would appreciate the help. I don't mind asking for them, and paying the fees. Just need to know exactly what to ask for. Thanks.. Lorri Greene. My email if you would rather email me personally is: lgreene98@aol.com
ReplyDelete